Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) set up a subsidiary in Belgorod Region. The decision was made by the company’s Board of Directors on December 14, 2007.

The new subsidiary, known as Prioskolskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise, is to be based in the town of Stariy Oskol. The enterprise will be developing Prioskolskiy iron ore deposit, located within 2,000 kilometers of MMK’s headquarters. The deposit has been estimated to contain 45.2 million tons of valuable ore and more than 2 billion tons of unoxidized carbonate-facies iron formation.

MMK’s BOD Chairman Viktor Rashnikov and Governor of Belgorod Region Evgeniy Savchenko signed an agreement on socio-economic cooperation in September 2007. The enterprise intends to start the construction of Prioskolskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise in 2009 and to launch the facility in 2016. The enterprise is predicted to produce up to 35 million tons of crude ore and some 15 million tons of pellets and iron-ore concentrate a year.

Setting up a subsidiary in Belgorod Region means Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works can be actively involved in the technological, legal, financial, and economic decision-making related to the construction of the future enterprise. Later on, Prioskolskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise might become an independent legal entity, MMK’s press officer says.