KIEV, Dec. 1 ??“ The State Property Fund closed another chapter on the long Kryvorizhstal privatization story by returning the UAH4.26 bln (about $850 mln) originally paid for the steel mill by the Investment and Metallurgy Union (IMU) after a much-disputed tender last year.

The SPF announced today that it had signed the order returning the funds to the consortium on Nov. 29, days after it had received UAH24.2 bln ($4.84 bln) from Mittal Steel, the steel giant that won the second, and presumably final, tender for the 93% stake, held Oct. 24.