STEELY RESOLVE: The Kryvorizhstal steel mill will be resold
Steel companies don't usually help spark political revolutions. But then Ukraine's Kryvorizhstal is no ordinary steel firm. With annual production of about 7 million tons, it is by far Ukraine's biggest steelmaker, accounting for 20% of output, and one of the country's most valuable companies. Last year, it became a powerful symbol of the nation's crony capitalism. In a privatization widely decried as rigged, Kryvorizhstal was sold last June by the state to Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of then-President Leonid Kuchma, and coal-and-steel magnate Rinat Akhmetov, for $800 million, less than half the amount offered by outside firms. The case stirred...
