Guyana seeking billions from sugar estates
NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL and Commercial Investments Limited’s special purpose unit, SPU, established to oversee the privatisation of the sugar estates of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, GUYSUCO, is seeking GUY$30 billion over a four-year period.
In a statement, National Industrial said the funds would provide much-needed capital for the estates for i nfrastructure maintenance, upgrades and development of new cogeneration capacity to support operations of the estates and sell power to the national grid.
The holding company said it is confident in its business case for GUYSUCO and expects positive results with respect to securing funding for the sugar operations.
Earlier this month, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said that National Industrial was seeking a multibillion-dollar loan to fund the operations of the Skeldon and Enmore sugar estates that will soon be reopened on a miniature level.
“We cannot keep them closed and mothballed, because when the buyers come they would probably not be as impressed as if they were working ... once in operation, they could also see that they are valuable properties to acquire,” Jordan said.
In the statement, National Industrial said that the SPU is concerned that there is cultivated cane in the Enmore Estate fields that need to be harvested and processed, since it represents significant revenue potential.
“While the SPU will provide the management for the restarted estate, GUYSUCO will provide the technical support,” National Industrial said.
“Closed estates will not be attractive to potential investors. The deal with DDL [Demerara Distillers Limited], if approved by the boards of DDL and NICIL, would allow the SPU to meet the PwC recommendations for a quality privatisation of the estate,” the statement said.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which is working on the valuation of the GUYSUCO assets now under the control of the SPU for privatisation, said that in order to attract the best investors and secure the highest price for the estates, they need to be seen as fully functioning operations and facilities.