The rumors related to Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) offering a large shareholding for sale have no factual ground, says the enterprise’s spokeswoman Elena Azovtseva.

Things started when one of the country’s information agency’s newswires published a piece of news related to the possible acquisition of MMK’s assets by a new investor, possibly Gazprom and Rosoboronexport (the latter dealing mainly in export of arms and weaponry and having no assets). The news was placed under the Gossip heading and was probably brought about by the difficult time MMK was having because of the global financial crisis, which the management had admitted.

A source from Rostechnologii’s top management said to a MetalPress agency’s reporter that the corporation hadn’t had the slightest intention to buy MMK. In the meantime, the gossipmongers must have confused Rosoboronexport with Rostechnologii.

As for Gazprom, the company’s official representative Sergey Kupriyanov denied their interest in Russian metallurgical assets, including MMK’s.

‘This would definitely be a non-core asset for us, and Gazprom is not interested in non-core assets for the time being,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev asked the country’s law-enforcement agencies to suppress any effort aimed at profiteering from the global financial crisis’s local outcomes and prosecute those who spread ungrounded rumors.