Bulgaria Dying Steel Mill Faces Crucial Deadline

The fate of the dying steel mill "Kremikotvtzi" is to be decided by the Sofia City Court. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The deadline for the submission of the "Kremikovtzi Health Plan" with Sofia's City Court expires Monday.

If the Court does not receive the plan, the most likely outcome would be to begin a procedure to finally shut down the steel mill.

During the meeting of the "Kremikovtzi" creditors on June 12, the assignee in bankruptcy of the mill, Tsvetan Bankov, was given the task to select an appraiser of the company's assets. The steel mill has over BGN 1 B of mounting debt.

The failure to pay the gas bills was the reason to halt gas supply to the mill from "Bulgargaz" triggering the closure of the coke processing plant and the blast furnaces.

In the beginning of June some gas supply was temporarily restored over a scrap contract. Those supplies have been prepaid.

The National Electric Company (NEC) also threatens to cut the electric power supply to the mill.

The termination of gas supply to "Kremikovtzi" was postponed several times over hopes that the Brazilian metallurgy giant CSN would save the mill's coke production. The supply was discontinued on May 15, after negotiations with CSN failed.

 

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