KIEV, Aug. 17 - Viktor Vekselberg's Renova is in talks to buy 25% stakes in firms that own three ferroalloy smelters and two manganese ore mines in Ukraine from Victor Pinchuk's EastOne group, the Kommersant newspaper reported, quoting sources familiar with the negotiations.

The paper said EastOne was selling 25% stakes in several mainly offshore firms that own the giant Nikopol Ferroalloy Works and the smaller Zaporizhia and Stakhanov smelters, which are capable of producing 2.1 million tons of ferroalloys between them; and the Ordzhonikidze and Marhanetsky mining and beneficiation plants, which supply the smelters with concentrate. By comparison, Russian ferroalloy smelters are only capable of producing 1.3 million-1.4 million tons of ferroalloys, Kommersant said.