Bulgarian state-owned gas distributor Bulgargaz has delayed by one week the cutoff of its supplies to the troubled Bulgarian steel mill Kremikovtzi, which was originally planned for April 1, 2009. The planned cutoff is due to the huge debts that the plant owes Bulgargaz.
Since October 2008, Bulgargaz has only been delivering the bare minimum necessary to keep some of Kremikovtzi's production facilities operational, with the coke ovens being the most important facilities in question. The steel mill was forced to shut down its blast furnaces after Ukraine's Vorskla Steel, owned by billionaire Konstantin Zhevago, ended its tolling deal with Kremikovtzi in October 2008.
Bulgaria's minister of energy and economy Petar Dimitrov said that there is still hope that an investor may be found for the troubled mill, despite media reports that the only potential bidder Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) has abandoned its bid to acquire the plant.
On the other hand, about 1,500-2,000 of workers at Kremikovtzi have gathered in Bulgaria's capital Sofia for their second consecutive day of protest, started on April 1, 2009, with demands for disbursement of salaries and compensation for workers facing layoffs, and demanding that an investor be found for the factory.
According to the trade unions at Kremikovtzi, about 1,500 employees will be dismissed if steel mill remains without an operator until April 25.
Meanwhile, according to local reports, the debts of Kremikovtzi to state-owned companies Bulgargaz, Bulgarian State Railways and Bulgaria's National Electricity Company have allegedly reached BGN 300 million (approx. $203.4 million).