Vadim Varshavsky, founder of the steel holding company Estar, is trying to regain the assets he sold to the now debt-laden Russian steel and coal producer Mechel.
The first business returned will be the Donetsk Electrometallurgical Plant, a steel plant in Ukraine sold by Varshavsky for $537 million in 2011 due to debts estimated at $1 billion to $1.5 billion, Kommersant reported.
Mechel is selling the plant back to Varshavsky for nominal sum of 2,000 euros ($2,700), though he will also take on debt to Mechel of up to $81 million.
The plant, which has a capacity of more than 1 million tons of steel per year, lost $50 million last year and stopped production in November due to the high price of scrap metal.
The deal is due to be closed in late 2013.
(MT)