OREANDA-NEWS. According to Millennium Capital, a financial services provider, the owner and CEO of Mariupol Illich Steelworks < MMKI UZ USD1.34 Hold >, Vladimir Boyko, disclosed at a press conference October 9 that the company will spend USD 500 mln on a modernization program over 2008-2010.

The program implies the introduction of pulverized coal injection in the blast furnace shop as well as the construction of a converter shop with a continuous casting machine. As a result, MMKI will almost end gas consumption entirely and substantially cut the cost of production. Boyko stressed that MMKI insists on finishing construction of KGOCOR only as an oxidized ore processor and will not cooperate with Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rih < KSTL UZ USD2.80 Hold > in another format.

Boyko also stated that MMKI did not rule out merger oportunities still didn't name any candidates. Millennium Capital's analysts highly appreciate the steelworks' intention to reduce gas consumption in view of the permanent gas price instability and consider MMKI to be a potential subject to merger as it lacks vertical integration the most among Ukraine's steelworks. They see the CEO's putting forward a merger idea as a positive sign for the plant.