In the fourth quarter of 2009, Russia's largest metal trader Metallservis Group (Metallservis) along with two investment companies, Zheldorfinans and MosPromInvest, together became owners of a 48 percent stake in ESTAR's Novosibirsk Metallurgical Works named after Kuzmin (NMZK), which is currently under the operational control of Metallservis, NMZK's Q4 2009 financial report shows.
Accordingly, Metallservis, Zheldorfinans and MosPromInvest now own 18.25 percent, 10.5 percent and 19.25 percent stakes respectively in NMZK.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in the context of the global economic crisis, NMZK stopped its production operations in December 2008, later operating with stoppages until the summer of 2009. In July 2009, Metallservis received the operational control of NMZK for a period of five years; it restructured the plant's debts and secured raw material supplies and product sales. In January 2010, NMZK almost reached the 2008 pre-crisis delivery levels.