Executives of the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation have taken steps to procure 200,000tn of sugar from international suppliers. The Corporation had invited shortlisted companies to submit offers, after an attempt to procure the sugar through an international tender went awry. However, officials at the Ministry of Finance instructed its executives to scrap the invitation and proceed to float a second bid. The shortlisted suppliers have also been invited to take part in the bidding process. The Corporation is set to be replaced by the Ethiopian Sugar Industry Group, which has been established by the federal government with 115 billion Br in capital. Five state-owned sugar estates are the Group's founding shareholders. The operational estates have a combined production capacity of nearly four million tonnes a year, short of 3.2 million quintals in domestic demand. The Group has the mandate to manage the operations of the three oldest sugar factories – Wonji, Metehara, and Fincha – and the newly-built Kesem and Tana Beles plants. It also has the mandate to monitor the activities of the eight state-owned sugar plants under construction.

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