PRESS: Mechel not to buy Gazprombank stake in Elga, may quit

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (PRIME) -- Russian metals and mining group Mechel has decided not to exercise its preemptive right to buy a 49% stake in the Elga coal deposit from Gazprombank and may also sell its 51% stake in the project, RBC Daily reported Friday citing sources.

Gazprombank said in August 2019 that it had received an offer of purchase of a 49% stake in the Elga coal deposit from a company. An official of the Federal Antimonopoly Service said that an application for clearance of the deal was sent by A-Property, a company of co-founder of telecom operator Yota Albert Avdolyan, while Mechel had the right to buy out the stake of the bank in a month.

According to RBC Daily, Mechel planned to buy 34% in the Elga deposit for 31 billion rubles, plus an option to buy the remaining 15%. The deal was to be closed by January 20, or Sunday. But the company did not find money for the deal and abandoned its preemptive right for the stake and also decided to sell its 51% stake, the daily said.

Now Gazprombank may sell 49% in the Elga deposit to A-Property, which is also interested in buying a controlling stake in the project from Mechel. The combined value of the assets may reach U.S. $1–2 billion, experts said.

(61.5694 rubles – U.S. $1)

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