"The port is up for grabs after Timchenko quit," a source close to the seller said. He said the state owns a 25 percent blocking stake in the company.
Earlier Russia's government newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, published an announcement for an October 12 auction of the business, with the starting price set at 7.5 billion roubles ($264.5 million).
A source in the coal industry said that Russian coking coal and steel producer Mechel , coal miner SUEK as well as Universal Cargo Logistics Holding (UCL) controlled by Vladimir Lisin, Russia's wealthiest man, are interested in acquiring the port.
Murmansk, on the Barents Sea, is among Russia's leading coal export terminals with a monthly capacity of around 1 million tonnes and is controlled by a group of private investors. (Reuters)
