KIEV, March 2 ??“ Industrial Union of Donbas and Illich Steel denied reports that they had been holding talks with Mittal Steel Kryviy Rih to create a joint venture to commission a huge ore producer.

However, both IUD and Illich confirmed that Mittal had submitted a proposal for the joint venture.

"I did not have talks with Mittal Steel, although we received proposals [to complete the building of the Kryvy Rih ore processor]," Volodymyr Boyko, Illich Steel chairman, told Interfax-Ukraine.