Romania’s integrated steel mill Liberty Galati, which has incurred deep losses starting in 2022, is to be sold in an international auction on March 12 with a starting price of EUR 690 million, after an inter-government committee has approved the restructuring plan on January 28. The court has cleared the restructuring plan and rejected a request to terminate the pre-insolvency preventive composition procedure, effectively rejecting the insolvency scenario.

Both rulings by the court can be appealed within 7 days.

The sales regulations and specifications will be finalised by February 2, announced Remus Borza, president of Euro Insol, which serves as the administrator of the company under the pre-insolvency procedure, besides CITR. The participation guarantee will be 7%, Ziarul Financiar reported.

Liberty Galati, built during the communist regime and formerly known as Sidex Galati, as well as the long products spin-off Liberty Tubular Products Galați, are for sale. 

They owe EUR 662 million worth of debts to creditors, with EUR 450 million owed to the state – to the state budget and Exim Banca Romaneasca.

Among the interested investors are JSW Steel (Sajjan Jindal), the largest Indian steel producer, Jindal Group also of India, steel and cement producer Galiawa Group from Iraq, DeLong Steel China, KMC Steel Turkey, Metinvest Ukraine, controlled by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, and also local UMB Grup Romania, owned by Dorinel Umbrărescu. The latter recently signed an agreement to take over the assets of another steel company – ArcelorMittal Hunedoara, a plant that permanently stopped production last fall.

Following the dire financial situation of the company over the past years, during which the company attempted to resume operations with state support, the Romanian tax collection agency ANAF has to recover EUR 150 million from Liberty Galati, while state-owned bank Exim Banca Romaneasca has to recover EUR 300 million. 

To avoid bankruptcy, the government has established an inter-ministerial committee in September 2024, considering the strategic role for the construction sector, the shipbuilding industry, and the country’s major infrastructure projects.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: press release)