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Romania, Austria’s Voestalpine To Sign Steel Mill MoU In Oct – Sources

Romanian government and representatives of Austria's steelmaker Voestalpine will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the first half of October and the Austrian group will decide in December the country to building its steel mill, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
Romania, Austria’s Voestalpine To Sign Steel Mill MoU In Oct – Sources
10 sept. 2008, 19:00, English

Voestalpine plans to build a steel mill in eastern Europe, namely in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey or Ukraine, following investments worth EUR5 billion.

Sources quoted by SteelGuru website said on September 1 that Voestalpine might close such a memorandum of understanding with the Romanian government in September, adding that the memorandum was to be signed on July 31, but was delayed on disagreements regarding the land to be leased in Romania.

The government is currently seeking an alternative to a land Voestalpine requested around Constanta seaport, whose concession was won by Romanian port operator Comvex SA in June 2008.

Voestalpine might also build a power plant near the steel mill that would cover 80% of the unit’s consumption, while for the rest, the company is negotiating with electricity suppliers, including Romanian state-owned power grid Electrica SA.

The company, jointly with Belgium’s Electrabel might build a power plant in Romania, but a decision in this respect is to be made only if the group builds its steel mill in Romania as well.

Voestalpine signed Monday a memorandum of understanding with Bulgaria.

The company is already operating in Romania by its British unit Elmsteel, which owns a plant in Satu Mare county, northern Romania, since 2004.

The group said last October it will invest EUR18 million in a service center for processing plate steel and other constructions materials, whose construction will start in 2008 in Giurgiu county, southern Romania.