Usmanov, Novinsky Take Early Lead Over Mittal In Bidding For KGOKOR.

A commission set up by the State Property Fund to judge proposals for taking over KGOKOR (a big, unfinished ore mine and dressing mill project) announced yesterday that it preferred a Russian proposal, made jointly by Alisher Usmanov’s Metalloinvest and Vadim Novinsky’s Smart Group, over Mittal Steel’s proposal. Both proposals involve setting up a joint venture with the government, which the outgoing government decided was the best way to privatize KGOKOR. Concorde Capital: The incoming government and the new State Property Fund chief due to be nominated by the Tymoshenko bloc could have different ideas. Mittal’s possible takeover of Arcelor and Usmanov’s efforts to corner the Russian ore market and his involvement in Transdnestria makes this a potentially highly politicized issue.