Romania asks Ukraine to pay off KGOKOR's construction debt

The government of Romania has sent an official letter to the government of Ukraine in which it demands a pay off the debt in amount of $350 million for construction of Soviet-era Krivoy Rog Mining and Processing Works of Oxidized Ore (KGOKOR) until the end of the current year. As stated in the letter, the most preferable way of payment would be supply of pellets from KGOKOR to Romania based Mittal Steel's enterprises. As previously reported by SteelOrbis, the construction of KGOKOR started during the Soviet times, and the main shareholders of the enterprise are Ukraine (56.4 percent), Romania (28 percent), and Slovakia (15.6 percent). In the beginning of 2006, Ukraine announced that it would hold a tender on completion of KGOKOR unilaterally.