The negotiations of Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) for a trade contract with insolvent Bulgarian steel mill Kremikovtzi are in crisis and the latest round of talks will probably end unsuccessfully, Bulgarian deputy economy and energy minister Nina Radeva has stated.
According to deputy minister Radeva, the cutoff of Bulgargaz' gas supply to the troubled mill over unpaid bills is absolutely normal after so many months of support, which have indisputably brought huge losses both to the steel mill and Bulgargaz.. The state-owned gas distributor Bulgargaz has said that it will cut its gas supplies to Kremikovtzi at the start of the May - a move which may result in the mill closing its main production facilities.
Mrs. Radeva said that the capitalization of Kremikovtzi's debts could be a possibility. However, she concluded that the future of the mill is now wholly in the hands of its creditors, and said that the state will encourage them to enable work to keep going at the mill for as long as possible.