"Kremikovtsi is alive and working thanks to the commitment of the State, and not the commitment of some other creditors or the private owners of the company," Economy and Energy Minister Peter Dimitrov told journalists in Parliament on Friday.

He said that on Thursday night he discussed solutions to overcome the shortage of coal for the iron and steel works. Coal is transported from the port of Bourgas to Kremikovtsi, he said. According to the Minister, these are materials of the Vorskla Steel company which were to be sold to the plant. They should have reached Kremikovtsi on Friday, Dimitrov said.

He said that only the State assumes responsibility for the condition of the company. "When responsibilities for the plant are to be assumed, according to me, only the State is left, there are no trade unions, no owners of the plant," Dimitrov said. He recalled that despite the attacks from the owner Arcelor Mittal against Bulgaria, the State supported them in the election of a trustee in bankruptcy.

The Minister said that talks have been held with various Bulgarian and foreign companies for the conduct of the operative activity of the plant. He said there are candidates, but did not give any names. "I do not know where the information came from that the plant is to be sold within a week - this is absurd, anyone who is familiar with the bankruptcy procedure knows that this is impossible," Dimitrov said.

Arcelor Mittal has not responded to a letter sent by Dimitrov, asking the company to renew the contract for operation of the plant.

Termination of the agreement with Kremikovtsi by Ukrainian Vorskla Steel Bulgaria without providing an intermediate period for delivery of raw materials from other suppliers puts the production capacities of the company in an emergency situation, which might lead to unpredictable bad consequences, Kremikovtsi Receiver Tsvetan Bankov and Chief Operating Officer Plamen Stoyanov said in a letter to Vorskla Steel Bulgaria Executive Director Victor Demyanyuk, Economy and Energy Minister Peter Dimitrov, Interior Minister Mihail Mikov and Emergency Situation Minister Emel Etem. The letter was sent to BTA by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria section at the steel mill.

At a meeting on October 20, Demyanyuk has informed Bankov and Stoyanov that Vorskla Steel Bulgaria wants to terminate the agreement with Kremikovtsi as of October 20 and to conclude a new commercial contract with the company, the letter said.

By October 21, the steel mill had only 1,000 tonnes of iron ore, 270 tonnes of coking coal and 50 tonnes of coke. The company had restricted supplies of natural gas from Bulgargaz, and Vorkska Steel Bulgaria owed to Kremikovtsi a processing fee of over 26 million leva, the letter also said.

There is no danger of emergency situation at Kremikovtsi, experts from the Sofia Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) found out during an inspection carried out on Friday. The inspection was ordered by Environment and Water Minister Djevdet Chakurov..

The production facilities were checked on site. It was found that blast-furnaces are not threatened to stop so far, as, according to the management, 1,500 tonnes of coke and 2,000 tones of coking coal were provided. RIEW was assured that negotiations are being carried out for the provision of raw materials required to support the facilities that operate under uninterrupted mode. The supply of natural gas is steady and the technological minimum of 20,000 normal cub m per hour is maintained.

Two of the prescriptions given by the RIEW are that the company should inform the inspectorate about the date when preparations for decommission of facilities will start, as well as to immediately advise the inspectorate in case of a change in the supply of natural gas in quantities creating a risk of an accident.

Meanwhile, Intertrust company which is owned by former Kremikovtsi director Valentin Zahariev, is negotiating with the steel mill to rent the aggregate for uninterrupted zinc plating, the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa Secretary Venetsia Levichkova told a news conference. She said she is concerned that former directors of the company, who brought it to this state by selling it to Pramod Mittal, are trying to help it now.

The danger Kremikovtsi to stop work is a real one and because of that the trade unions are staging protests next week, they said.