Voest-Alpine says no longer interested in steel privatization

Austrian steel group Voest-Alpine Stahl announced yesterday it had withdrawn from a consortium interested in taking part in the privatization of Poland’s state-owned steel mills. Voest, which had been eyeing Poland’s embattled metallurgy sector for more than two years, said it was pulling out primarily due to the government not changing its current steel sector privatization strategy to exclude competition between steel mills. The Austrians also said they had decided to exit the consortium they entered last month because other members’ positions in the grouping were too strong. Though never officially confirmed, daily Prawo i Gospodarka speculates the members that still remain in the consortium are French Usinor, Luxemburg’s Arbed and ThyssenKrupp of Germany. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 2) A.D.