Other holdings of Indian businessman Pramod Mittal share the plight of Bulgaria's largest steelmaker Kremikovtzi, a report in Dnevnik daily claimed on February 18 2008.

Many of Mittal's steel companies are facing difficulties at the moment, representatives of an international bank told Dnevnik daily on condition of anonymity. They pointed to factories in Nigeria and the Philippines, where wage arrears dated back months and other payments have also failed to meet deadlines. Their poor performance is explained through mismanagement and also the difficulties faced by Pramod Mittal himself.

The same sources told Dnevnik that talks for the sale of Kremikovtzi to Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Zhevago fell through after he offered Mittal only 20 million euro for the plant.

The steel mill had to cut down production significantly towards the end of 2007, Mittal told Kremikovtzi bondholders during a scheduled meeting on February 12 2008, Dnevnik daily said.

The 325-million euro seven-year bond, issued in early-2006 and with an annual coupon of 12 per cent, usedsome of the plant's assets as collateral. Frequent maintenance interruptions and a cash flow shortage has also disrupted the delivery of raw materials, which caused the output to fall, Kremikovtzi officials were quoted as saying.

Kremikovtzi also saw deliveries of raw materials and goods halted over a backlog of payments to state railways company BDZ, but has since announced that it reached an agreement with BDZ over the repayment of the debts and the railway resumed servicing the steel mill.