Posted on 16 Aug 2024
Poland’s Liberty Częstochowa, part of Liberty Steel, has launched an appeal against the start of bankruptcy proceedings, it tells Kallanish in an emailed statement.
The court in Częstochowa had chosen to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the idled plate-maker following a lawsuit by a creditor launched in April, and the company went into receivership in June.
Liberty says it has a plan to restart the 700,000 tonne/year EAF and 1.2 million tonne/year plate mill. It believes it has shown that it has strong support from its largest creditor and a letter of intent for a €100m ($110m) loan from a credible financial institution.
The restart plan involves leasing the plant to its parent company, Liberty Steel Group. It notes that it has begun work on restarting the plant and it intends to reimburse July salaries if the operating lease for the plant is granted.
Liberty Częstochowa says the restart of the plant is the best way to “secure the preservation of jobs, the uninterrupted payment of employees’ salaries, ongoing production at the plant and the timely repayment of all creditors.”
Suitors looking to purchase the Polish mill include Ukraine’s Metinvest.
Liberty Steel has had trouble financing its other mills in central and eastern Europe. These include the Ostrava steelworks in the Czech Republic and Liberty Galati in Romania, which restarted a blast furnace in July.
Source:Kallanish
