Vnesheconombank turns down govt offer to buy Dunaferr

Budapest, February 7 (MTI) – Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank turned down an offer by the Hungarian government to buy steelmaker ISD Dunaferr at talks on Thursday, daily Magyar Nemzet said today.

Without elaborating, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga told the paper Vnesheconombank would not sell ISD Dunaferr.

Lajos Dorkota, who heads the Hungarian Energy and Utilities Regulatory Office, told the paper that Vnesheconombank wanted to turn ISD Dunaferr into central and eastern Europe’s most competitive steelworks and had signed a contract on the renovation of one of its foundries. Work on the foundry is expected to wind up by Aug. 20, he added.

The updgrade will mean 3,500 jobs will remain safe in Dunaujvaros, in central Hungary, Dorkota said.

Dunaferr said last August that it would lay off 1,500 of its 5,000 workers, but later reduced the number to 400.

Dunaujvaros mayor Gabor Cserna recently said the government had made a “concrete” offer for the company during a visit to Moscow earlier in January.

Photo: www.kazandepo.hu

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/