Moscow. Russia, 29 September 2010 -- /Lesprom Network/ -- Freshwater Tissue Company has abandoned plans to restart the Samoa pulp mill because it has proven impossible to obtain the needed loans, according to Bob Simpson, president of Freshwater Tissue Co. 

Two groups are interested in buying the mill's boiler, Simpson said, but there is no firm date for when that sale might take place, and plans are uncertain for the future of the facility and the 156-acre property it sits on.

Freshwater bought the mill in February 2009, about three months after former owner Evergreen Pulp Inc. shut down the operation, laying off more than 200 workers.

Freshwater initially looked to perform a major overhaul of the plant by converting it to a pulp and tissue manufacturing facility, but those plans fell through, as did efforts to find financing to restart the mill as a chlorine-free pulp producer. Simpson said Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regulations make it impossible for banks to finance such start-up projects.