Russian sources report that the domestic steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (
NLMK) is currently considering selling off its coal assets Prokopievskugol and Altai-koks.
NLMK was unable to make a profit from the development of these two assets, incurring $340 million in losses since their acquisition.
NLMK is to transfer the assets in question to the possession of Kemerovo Administration, which will be responsible for selling them off, the Russian sources state. However,
NLMK will have to pay $150 million for the settlement of Prokopievskugol's debts before the disposal of its coal assets can go ahead.
According to the data for 2006, Prokopievskugol saw a decrease in its coal mining output during the year by 7.5 percent to 4.73 million metric tons, from 5.11 million metric tons mined in 2005.
NLMK has not yet released any official statement concerning the issue.