State of Israel Properties has rejected Mikhail Chernoy’s request to bid in tender, saying it was submitted too late.
MI Holdings (State of Israel Properties) general manager Yitzhak Klein notified Mikhail (Misha) Chernoy before the Jewish New Year that Chernoy’s request to bid in the Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) privatization tender had been rejected.
More than a month after the July 20 deadline, Chernoy asked MI Holdings, which is conducting the tender, for permission to participate in the tender. The request surprised the Ministry of Finance, because of its lateness, Chernoy’s background as a businessman in Russia, and the indictment against him and businessman Gad Zeevi, concerning the purchase of 20% of Bezeq (TASE: BZEQ).
Klein wrote that, taking into consideration the procedures for the sale and the tender, for which five candidates submitted detailed documents, plus a $10 million bank guarantee, and following a discussion of Chernoy’s request by a special Discount Bank board of directors’ committee, the request could not be granted. Klein called the request “irregular”, and said that he could not approve it at the present time.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 19, 2004