KIEV, May 31 - Volodymyr Boyko, the key shareholder of Illich Steel, Ukraine’s No. 2 steelmaker, on Monday appealed to President Viktor Yanukovych for help in fending off a “colossal raider attack” against the company.

Boyko met Yanukovych for the first time since reports had emerged last week that Illich had been de-facto acquired by a group of undisclosed Russian investors.