Pramod Mittal, the Indian steel tycoon who still owns 71 per cent in Bulgaria's bankrupt Kremikovtzi steelworks, has recently told the Bulgarian Cabinet that he was still interested in turning around the fortunes of the debt-ridden steel mill, Dnevnik daily reported on April 21.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov, Mittal said that he would detail a recovery plan in the near future, focusing on the use of electric arc furnaces, as well as the cold and hot rolling facilities, the daily said, quoting unnamed sources.

The letter did not specify the exact amount Mittal was willing to invest, nor did it include a debt settlement proposal, Dnevnik said. Kremikovtzi owes 2.2 billion leva, including more than 900 million leva to the Bulgarian state and state-owned companies.

Mittal's Global Steel Holding, which owns 71 per cent in Kremikovtzi, defaulted last year on a 325 million euro bond, issued in 2006 to cover the acquisition costs and pay off some of the steel mill's debt, which would make it difficult to raise debt financing to carry out the planned investment.

The letter made no reference to Kremikovtzi's blast furnaces, which have now been shut down because the mill has no money to buy the raw materials, or the coke oven batteries. The two are the most polluting of Kremikovtzi's production facilities and would require investing tens of millions of leva in environmental protection equipment to stay running.

Kremikovtzi labour unions, who have long been at odds with Mittal and the managers he appointed to run the steel mill, gave the news a lukewarm greeting, still hoping that another investor would be willing to keep the blast furnaces and coke ovens operational, Dnevnik said.