The Chinese mining company Serbia Zijin Copper (Srbija Ziđin koper) from Bor became the owner of a five percent stake in the Belt and Road Institute, which until now was exclusively publicly owned, Nova ekonomija writes.
Serbia Zijin Copper is part of the Chinese Ziđin Group, which also owns the company Serbia Zijin Mining in Serbia, and they are the owners of copper and gold mines in the vicinity of Bor and the buyers of the former RTB Bor.
The Institute was founded in December 2021 by the Government of Serbia, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the University of Novi Sad, according to New Economy.
At the time of its establishment, the Government owned 51 percent of the Institute, PKS 40 percent, and the University of Novi Sad nine percent.
In March 2022, the Government of Serbia reduced its share in the ownership of the Institute from 51 to 33 percent, and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (PKS) from 40 to 25 percent.
In this way, 33 percent of ownership in the Institute was “released”. These percentages are divided into “reserved own shares”, as registered in the Agency for Business Registers (APR).
33 reserve own shares, of one percent each, were registered.
On the website of the Institute, it is written that the idea is that 33 percent of ownership in the Institute should be given to Chinese companies operating in Serbia.
Reserved own shares in a company serve to be sold in the future to other legal or natural persons, under predetermined conditions.
