Alchevsk Iron & Steel (ALMK: BUY) and Dnipropetrovsk plants Dzerzhinsk and Mariupol Illicha (MMKI: BUY) requested Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich regulate domestic prices for iron ore from Inguletsky and Pivdenny GOKs (PGZK: BUY). According to the mass media, ALMK threatened to halt production. Eugene Cherviachenko: This conflict indicates a dispute between two oligarch-run monopolistic business groups: steel smelters (Industrial Union of the Donbass and Mariupol Illicha) and iron ore producers (Privat and Smart groups). Domestic iron ore producers are hoping to gain from the global increase in iron ore. We believe ALMK’s threat to halt production is more of a PR stunt and the plant is unlikely to actually stop production. Since no one is interested in a conflict, we expect a compromise in prices to be reached soon.