The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers plans to decide the fate of the country's unfinished Soviet-era plant Krivoy Rog Mining and Processing Works of Oxidized Ore (KGOKOR) by the end of the current year.
"So far we can only say that before the end of 2011 it is quite possible to complete all preparatory works to ensure that the facility will be privatized or in some other way will be given to potential investors," Ukraine's deputy minister of industrial policy Sergei Belenky said.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, the construction of KGOKOR started in 1985 during Soviet times, with the main shareholders of the enterprise including Ukraine (56.4 percent), Romania (28 percent) and Slovakia (15.6 percent). Construction work on the plant was halted in the early 1990s. Of the $2.4 billion designated for the construction of the plant, about $1.65 billion was invested.
Currently, KGOKOR is about 70 percent completed and requires more than $800 million in investments to finish construction and start operations. The planned production capacity of KGOKOR is 10 million mt of pellets per year.