Romania’s Liberty Galati steel mill, which has faced heavy losses since 2022, will be sold in an international auction on March 12 with a starting price of EUR 690 million, following court approval of its restructuring plan on January 28. The court also rejected a request to terminate the pre-insolvency preventive composition procedure, effectively dismissing the insolvency scenario. Both rulings can be appealed within seven days.

Liberty Galati, formerly Sidex Galati, and its long products spin-off, Liberty Tubular Products Galați, owe EUR 662 million to creditors, including EUR 450 million to the state. Interested buyers include JSW Steel and Jindal Group of India, Iraq’s Galiawa Group, DeLong Steel China, KMC Steel Turkey, Metinvest Ukraine, and Romania’s UMB Grup. The Romanian government established an inter-ministerial committee in September 2024 to protect the company’s strategic role in construction, shipbuilding, and infrastructure projects.