OREANDA-NEWS. August 19, 2010. The Ukrainian Antimonopoly Committee gave permission to Metinvest to purchase a controlling interest in the Illich steel mill.  The permit came in return for Metinvest’s promise to supply the internal markets with reasonably priced steel products. The additional issue of shares of both ZAO “Illich Steel”, 90% share owner of MMKI, and MMKI will be completed on August 21, increasing the overall stake of Metinvest in the MMKI steel mill’s registered capital up to 75%.

Millennium Capital: the news is neutral for MMKI, as the Antimonopoly Committee ban could be a threat to the deal of the year in Ukraine’s steel industry. The political party of Metinvest’s owner Mr. Akhmetov is running the Government, so the positive news did not come as a surprise. The annual steel producing capacities of the Holding Company after the merger will reach 13 MT, constituting more than 1/3 of the national steel production. Combined with the access to its own coke and iron ore resources, the MMKI buyout makes Metinvest the dominating player on the Ukrainian steel market.