On Friday, the Serbian government announced that they have purchased US Steel's Serbian plant in Smederevo for a symbolic US$1.00. With this purchase, the Serbian government was able to prevent huge job losses and keep the plant running. Due to the economic crisis in Serbia, US Steel decided to go forward with the sale--pulling out of Serbia altogether. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic indicated that while the Serbian government will remain owners of the plant, they are looking for a strategic business partner.
SteelOrbis has been covering this story since it first broke in December that the plant was cutting down its work week days from five to four in order to cut spending costs. Then, on January 26, US Steel and the Serbian government were in talks to come to an agreement about the future of the plant. US Steel purchased the plant for US$33 million in 2003 after the take down of then President Slobodan Milosevic.