12 Apr 2022 18:27

Trotsenko: Deal to acquire Vorkutaugol from Severstal on hold at moment, too early to talk about timeline

MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - The acquisition of 100% of coal producer JSC Vorkutaugol from Severstal by Russian Energy LLC, which is 70% owned by Roman Trotsenko, is on pause for now, Trotsenko told reporters.

"For now, we are waiting for a decision on financing the deal," Trotsenko said, noting that the company has not given up on buying the coal asset. "We've put it on stand-by. It's too early to talk about a timeline," he said.

Severstal said at the beginning of December that it had signed a binding agreement with Russian Energy to sell Vorkutaugol for 15 billion rubles. The deal was expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2022.

The Federal Anti-monopoly Service said in January that it had received a request for clearance from Trotsenko's company to buy the coal asset. The regulator has not officially said whether it has approved the deal but a source with knowledge of the matter told Interfax that approval had been received.

Vorkutaugol supplies Severstal with coking coal concentrate. Its total sales were 3.9 million tonnes in 2021.