Steel pipe producer TMK Artrom Slatina, controlled by Russian group TMK, received a seven-year loan worth EUR 25 million from Romania's largest lender BCR to increase its production capacity.

The loan will allow the Slatina producer, one of Romania’s most important seamless steel pipe producers, to buy a heat treatment line, which should become operational this summer.

In August 2016, the Russian group TMK, the largest producer of steel pipes for the oil and gas industry, considered a capital increase and the sale of assets to reduce debt, according to Reuters. The group owns in Romania the Resita-based TMK steel mill and the TMK Artrom plant in Slatina.

TMK’s results are currently affected by the weak pipeline sales in the US. The group is controlled by the controversial Russian investor Dmitry Pumpiansky.

TMK Artrom Slatina posted a turnover of EUR 203 million in 2015, down 7% compared to 2014, and a net profit of EUR 555,000. Slatina, an industrial city with over 70,000 people, also hosts Alro Slatina, the largest aluminum plant in Southeastern Europe.

editor@romania-insider.com