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WEIRTON, W.VA. – Weirton Steel Corp. officials today said the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee (ESLG) Program Board has nearly all the information it needs to decide whether or not the company can participate in the program. Weirton Steel officials today made their third visit in two months to Washington, D.C., to discuss the company’s application pending before the program’s three-member loan board. "We believe the board has nearly, if not all, the information it needs to make a decision. We don’t anticipate the board will hold additional meetings. However, its members may ask some follow-up questions by telephone before they render their decision in the near future," said Mark E. Kaplan, Weirton Steel president and chief financial officer. "Today’s meeting was an opportunity for us to state why we believe our reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy will be effective and why the company will be competitive. Past meetings centered on the company’s financial strategies and its ability to repay the loan." In addition to Kaplan, company Chief Executive Officer D. Leonard Wise and Treasurer David Bordo also participated in the meeting. If the loan board approves Weirton Steel’s application, financial institutions, led by Chicago-based Fleet Capital Corp., will loan the company $175 million to help it emerge from bankruptcy. Participation in the ESLG Program means the federal government will guarantee 85 to 95 percent of the loan amount if the company defaults on its payments. Last Thursday, Kaplan, Wise and Bordo met with West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise and officials from the state’s Economic Development Authority to determine if the state would guarantee the percentage of the loan not covered by the federal government. The uncovered percentage totals approximately $18 million. The company believes its chances of receiving the federal guarantee would be greatly enhanced if the state is willing to participate. "The banks’ loan is critical to Weirton Steel’s emergence from bankruptcy. For the federal and state governments to guarantee their respective portions of the loan means at best we retain a steel mill in the Northern Panhandle," said Gregg Warren, company director–corporate communications and government relations. "A mill in the panhandle translates into jobs, tax revenue for our local and state governments and school as well as the economy benefiting from paychecks. We cannot overstate the need for the loan board to approve and the company to receive the $175 million bankruptcy emergence loan." In 2002, taxes paid by Weirton Steel included: $10.8 million to the state; a total of $1.3 million to Brooke and Hancock counties; $4 million to the Brooke and Hancock county schools systems combined; and $4.2 million to the City of Weirton. In addition, the economy last year also benefited from the company’s $176 million payroll. Weirton Steel, the nation’s fifth largest integrated steel company and second largest tin mill products producer, filed for bankruptcy protection on May 19.
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