Slovenia's Dilon mulls sale of 72% of steel maker SIJ - report

People from the circle of Zubitskiy have started checking the interest in the purchase of SIJ on international markets and have also started looking for consultants to manage the sale, Slovenian public broadcaster RTV reported.

According to the Necenzurirano news portal, the Slovenian government may also sell its 25% stake in the capital of SIJ together with Dilon.

The Slovenian government sold in 2007 a 72% stake in SIJ to Russian steel group Koks, which was then controlled by the Zubitskiy family through Dilon. Following a family dispute, the ownership of Dilon was transferred from Evgeniy Zubitskiy to his brother Andrey in 2018.

SIJ recorded an 18.8 million euro ($20.4 million) consolidated loss in 2023, driven by high energy costs. "The business results of the SIJ Group for 2023 show the challenges we have overcome in the business environment, marked by changes in demand for steel, increased costs of energy products, and one-off extraordinary events," Andrey Zubitskiy said back then.

The SIJ Group is the largest vertically integrated metallurgical group in Slovenia, occupying with its products leading positions in European and global niche steel markets.

($ = 0.92329 euro)