Workers from Bulgaria's Kremikovtzi steel mill have demanded a sell-out of its property to pay their salaries and damages as the closure of the indebted plant looms large.

Kremikovtzi workers staged their eleventh rally on Monday, which saw the first confirmation of persistent reports that Brazilian CSN, the only potential bidder for Bulgaria's insolvent steel mill, is no longer interested.

At the beginning of last week Bulgaria's Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov set a seven-day deadline for reaching a tolling deal to buy coke from Kremikovtzi with the Brazilian giant.

That was the only reason why state gas monopoly Bulgargaz decided not to cut gas supplies to Kremikovtzi over unpaid bills. The distribution firm warned it would cut off deliveries in a week, closing the smelter's major production units.

Should gas supplies be cut off, the total shutdown of the company except for the final units in the production chain is very likely.

Kremikovtzi workers will suspend their protests for two days, during which, they say, the government should take a final decision about the future of the plant.

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