Kremikovtzi AD
Kremikovtzi AD (Кремиковци АД) was Bulgaria's largest metalworking company. The construction of its facilities began on 5 November 1960 and the first production capacities were put into operation in 1963 to produce cast iron and coke, with production extending to cover other areas in the 1960s and 1970s.

The company was privatised in 1999 - 71% of it was acquired for US$1 by Daru Metals (a Bulgarian owned company later to change its name to Finmetals Holdings). Most of Kremikovtzi AD's production was exported to the European Union, Turkey, some of the former Yugoslav countries, the United States and China. The profit was 120 million leva in 2003 and 80 million leva in 2004. However, bad management and other factors led to the company generating losses of more than BGN 200 million for 2005.

In January 2005, Kremikovtzi AD acquired 70% of the LEMIND-FPL polyester-covered sheet iron factory in Leskovac, Serbia for €1.4 million. The company also made another acquisition in April 2005, purchasing the Llamkos galvanised sheet iron factory in Vucitrn, Kosovo for €4.15 million. Both plants were disposed of upon Kremikovtzi's takeover by Global Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL).

In 2005 Valentin Zahariev and Kiril Zahariev sold 100% of Finmetals Holdings for US$110 million to GSHL, owned by Pramod Mittal, brother of the highly successful Lakshmi Mittal. Kremikovtzi is not related to the Arcelor Mittal group. The new management brought by GSHL has embarked on an investment program aiming to increase the product quality, reduce the production costs and widen the product range. The key focus of this was the finalisation of the new Continuous Caster and a new Converter. Both were finally put in full operation in November 2006, after being under construction for more than 15 years.

In November 2006, the debt obligations of the company were subject to extreme price volatility as speculation mounted about the depth of commitment to the business by GHSL. Pramod Mittal, the company's owner, issued a statement to reassure investors of his ongoing interest in Kremikovtzi's success; but this was not sufficient to dampen the ongoing volatility of the debt price. At the beginning of December 2006, GSHL issued another statement, this time committing to inject cash into the business on an ongoing, quarterly basis.

Mittal withdrew from the company a year or so later and the company was kept afloat by the socialist government, desperately seeking for a potential investor. All negotiations ultimately failed. Fuel and salaries were not being paid during that period, creating additional debts for the company. Since December 2008 the factory was virtually non-functioning, kept in a safe-standby mode.

On May 15, 2009, gas supply (main fuel for the factory's operations) has been cut off, the coke production plant - one of the most controversial symbols of the company - has been shut down permanently.

In 2011 the factory is sold to an SPV financed by First Investment Bank. Since then the terrain was partially cleared and opportunities for redevelopment are being sought.
Q219
Bulgaria
LOC
Q953045
metalworking
Concept
Q483269
cast iron
Concept
Q192795
coke
Concept
Q161500
privatised
Concept
Q458
European Union
ORG
Q43
Turkey
LOC
Q36704
Yugoslav
Concept
Q172540
leva
Concept
Q188245
polyester
Concept
Q192606
Leskovac
LOC
Q403
Serbia
LOC
Q911241
Vucitrn
LOC
Q1246
Kosovo
LOC
Q19561601
Pramod Mittal
PER
Q191311
Lakshmi Mittal
PER
Q27893
Arcelor Mittal
ORG
Q756115
volatility
Concept
Q231842
SPV
Concept
Q3367065
First Investment Bank
ORG
Q6436710
Kremikovtzi AD
ORG
Q6436710
Kremikovtzi AD
ORG
Q6436710
Kremikovtzi AD
ORG
1960-11-05T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
5 November 1960
DATE
1963-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1963
DATE
1960-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1960
DATE
1970-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1970
DATE
1999-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1999
DATE
2003-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2003
DATE
2004-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2004
DATE
2005-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2005
DATE
2005-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
January 2005
DATE
2005-04-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
April 2005
DATE
2005-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2005
DATE
2006-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 2006
DATE
2006-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 2006
DATE
2006-12-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 2006
DATE
2008-12-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 2008
DATE
2009-05-15T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
May 15, 2009
DATE
2011-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2011
DATE
+71^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
71
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+80^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
80
NUMBER
+70^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
70
NUMBER
+1.4^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1.4
NUMBER
+4.15^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
4.15
NUMBER
+110^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
110
NUMBER
+15^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
15
NUMBER
manufacturer
inception
country
country
sibling
sibling