Fri, Feb 10 2012

Kremikovtzi to stay in the Mittal family

Mon, Mar 17 2008 18:47 CET

byElitsa Grancharova

612 Views
Kremikovtzi to stay in the Mittal family

Lakshmi Mittal, the older brother of current Kremikovtzi owner Pramod Mittal, is interested in buying Bulgaria's biggest steel mill Kremikovtzi, Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov said on March 16, as quoted by Reuters.

Dimitrov said Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, had sent letter to Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev to announce his interest.

"Lakshmi Mittal says in his letter the mill represents a strategic interest to him and that he is ready to carry out all necessary environmental upgrades," BTA news agency quoted Dimitrov as saying during his visit to Varna, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian billionaire Kostyantin Zhevago, who controls 73 per cent of London-listed Ukrainian iron ore producer Ferrexpo, expressed similar interests in Kremikovtzi in his letter to the Bulgarian government in January.

Reuters also quoted Kremikovtzi as saying that owner of metallurgic firm Metinvest, Ukrainian Rinat Akhmetov, also has interests in purchasing the Bulgarian steel factory.

After Pramod Mittal announced the company is looking for strategic investor for Kremikovtzi, he appointed Merrill Lynch to advise him on how to go on after failing to invest in the steel producer about 140 million euro needed for environmental upgrades and working capital.

The Bulgarian government holds a 25 per cent stake in Kremikovtzi. Dimitrov said the state would insist on the factory bidders to guarantee that they will keep the plant operating by making the needed investments.

  • Print
  • Send via email
  • Translate to
  • Share:

To post comments, please, Login or Register.


Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.

More in this category

Cashing in

Bulgarian Cabinet is looking at domestic market to refinance foreign debt, but has back-up plan in place

Winter waves

Government and individuals come up with cash to help those hard-hit by floods and freezing weather.

Winter weather as archaeologist: Roman building found near Bulgaria's Bourgas

The discovery was made after some of the land in a complex near Bourgas was washed away by rough seas.

Weather crisis disrupts train travel in Bulgaria

No trains could cross the Danube Bridge and passengers from international trains were being taken to the city of Rousse by road transport.

Bulgaria faces further fatal freeze a day after Black Sea devastation

Hazardous weather warnings across the country on February 9, new record-low temperatures, and three people reported frozen to death in Pernik.

© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.