Bulgaria was not in a situation where it could afford the luxury to pick buyers for the country's biggest steel mill Kremikovtzi, now under court receivership, Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov said on March 5 2009.

Talking to reporters on sidelines of the Bulgaria Business and Investment Summit held in Sofia's Sheraton hotel on March 5-6 2009, Dimitrov said that investors were wary of making big decisions while commodities prices remained low, which was why none had pursued their interest in the debt-ridden steelworks.

Brazilian mining giant CSN has been mulling over a possible deal for more than a month, but "they still can not come up with a scheme that will give them profit should they buy Kremikovtzi," Dimitrov said.

When Ukrainian steelmaker Smart Holding said on February 25 that it was pulling out of the negotiations in buying Kremikovtzi, Dimitrov gave the same explanation.

The steel group had offered to invest up to 220 million euro in Kremikovtzi, loan $60 million to the steel mill to boost cashflow and pay debts worth 80 million euro. The rest of the debt, worth an estimated two billion leva, would have been converted into new shares.

"Considering that the negotiations on choosing a strategic partner for Kremikovtzi are being dragged out indefinitely ... Smart Holding was forced to take the decision of withdrawing from the negotiating process," Smart Holding said in a statement at the time.

As for the interest showed by Finland-registered Finprominvest, Dimitrov said that Bulgaria could not afford to pick buyers. The company sent a letter of interest to the ministry on February 25 2009, but it was short on any specifict details as to what it was ready to offer.

While the Government, which holds a 25 per cent stake in the steel mill, is struggling to find buyers for Kremikovtzi, trade unions have said they were ready to go out on the streets again since Kremikovtzi's workers had not been paid from last November.

Workers protested throughout the entire 2008 after the mill stopped working, asking for the Government to find a buyer.

According to various estimates, more than 6000 people are employed by Kremikovtzi. The mill is a key customer for Bulgarian ports and the state railways company, providing the incomes of at least another 50 000 households, labour unions claim.

Trade unions claim that about 1000 people have left the mill over the past two months. The rest will go out on a protest rally on March 9 2009, starting from Kremikovtzi and passing by Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Economy and Energy Ministry and ending outside the Council of Ministers building. Trade unions threaten to have protests every day for at least a week.

Their demands are for every Kremikovtzi worker who has been sacked to be compensated with 30 monthly salaries.