Guryevsky Metallurgical Plant (GMZ)

History

2024: Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant "Mechel" bought the property of the Guryev Metallurgical Plant for 555 million rubles

Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (CHMK), part of the Mechel group, acquired the property of the Guryev Metallurgical Plant (GMZ) for ₽555 million. The transaction, which ended in July 2024, was the result of a long bidding process, during which the initial price of the asset decreased significantly.

According to RBC, CHMK became the only participant in the auction, which were announced in March 2024. Initially, the value of the property of the GMZ was estimated at ₽2,87 billion, but in a few months it decreased by more than three times.

Freepik

Guryevsky Metallurgical Plant, which is the oldest metallurgical enterprise in Kuzbass, has experienced financial difficulties in recent years. Since 2014, the company has introduced a monitoring procedure, and at the end of 2016 the plant was declared bankrupt. Despite this, production at the GMZ did not stop - the plant continued to produce steel, channel and grinding balls.

Representatives of Mechel confirmed the acquisition of movable and immovable property of the GMZ. The company plans to create a CHMK division on the basis of the acquired property complex, where the procurement from Chelyabinsk will be supplied for further processing. The transaction was financed at the expense of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant.

The acquisition of the property of the Guryev Metallurgical Plant may also have social significance for the region. GMZ is a city-forming enterprise in Guryevsk with a population of 22.1 thousand people, where about 1.2 thousand employees work. Maintaining production on the basis of acquired property can help maintain employment in the city and develop the local economy.

The transaction to acquire the property of GMZ ends a long period of uncertainty around the fate of the enterprise. Since the bankruptcy of the plant in 2016, various attempts have been made to sell its assets.^[1]

Notes