Ukrainian steel producer Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD) has said that it is gradually repaying its debts to Ukraine's Metinvest Group for raw material supplies and that it is efficiently negotiating regarding financial debt restructuring with the global banks and financial institutions which are ISD's loan holders.
ISD's statement came following media reports regarding the commencement of enforcement proceedings against ISD steel producing subsidiaries Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works (Alchevsk) and Dneprovsky Iron and Steel Works named after F. Dzerzhinsky (DMKD) concerning debts owed to Metinvest initiated by the public enforcement service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice.
ISD has confirmed the indebtedness of its subsidiaries to Metinvest for iron ore supplies during the years 2008 and 2009 against the background of the global financial crisis, but at the same time it stated that the amount of debt reported by the media in recent publications is incorrect.
"The Alchevsk and DMKD steel mills are successfully fulfilling debt repayment responsibilities to their partners, including iron ore suppliers," reads ISD's statement.
Earlier this month, it was claimed by some media that the executive office of Ukraine's Justice Ministry had seized the property of ISD's Alchevsk and DMKD over iron ore supply debts to Metinvest, totaling UAH 1.7 billion (about $215 million).
ISD has not provided any details regarding the debt figures.