Slovenia has halted the privatisation of the state-owned steelworks Slovenske Zelezarne because bids were lower than expected, the head of the country's privatisation commission says

Slovenia has halted the privatisation of the state-owned steelworks Slovenske Zelezarne because bids were lower than expected, the head of the country's privatisation commission says. The Slovenian government started privatising Slovenske Zelezarne in 2001 with the hope of selling a majority stake in the steelworks for more than tolars (38.4 million euros, 42.8 million dollars) by the end of 2003. Foreign and domestic bidders earlier this year had presented binding bids to acquire 80% of Slovenske Zelezarne's core facilities: the Acroni and Metal Ravne plants and the industrial blades maker Nozi Ravne. Italy's Valbruna was among the shortlisted bidders for Acroni, Slovenia's largest steelplant, while Austrian company Intecom had put in a bid for a majority stake in Metal. Germany's IKS Klingelnberg and Euco Industriemesser, Dutch Asko and US Kinetic had made offers for Nozi Ravne. Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic of two million people, is set to join the European Union in May 2004. The European Commission has urged the government to speed up the privatisation of the steelworks, the state telecommunications network and other state-owned enterprises.