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Articles - July 2009
What does Vladimir Putin have to do with the company formerly known as Oregon Steel’s decision to idle its steel mill in Portland this summer? Follow the timeline to find out.

1926: Gilmore Steel incorporated in California.

1987: Renamed Oregon Steel Mill.

1988: Goes public.

1993: Buys steel mill in Colorado.

Late 1990s: Peaks at over 2,700 employees.

2004: Swings to a $117 million profit, tops $1 billion in sales, earns shareholders 11% return on investment.

2005: Tops Columbia Sportswear and Tektronix to become Oregon’s sixth-largest public company by revenue.

January 2007: Bought for $2.3 billion by Russian conglomerate Evraz, controlled by billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich.

March 2008: Abramovich, who also owns a fleet of planes, yachts and limos as well as a British soccer team, is listed by Forbes as the world’s 15th-richest person, worth $24.3 billion.

Jan.-July 2008: Evraz sales rise 78% to $10.7 billion; profits soar 82% to $2 billion.

Sept. 2008: Steel prices collapse.

Sept. 30, 2008: Evraz debt hits $10.2 billion.

October: Bloomberg estimates Abramovich lost $20 billion in five months.

November 2008: Russia’s state bank, controlled by Vladimir Putin, lends Evraz over $2 billion in bailout funds to pay taxes and refinance debt.

Jan 2009: New Evraz CEO Alexander Frolov takes responsibility for day-to-day operations in North America as well as Russia and announces plans to seek synergies.

April 2009: Evraz announces 225 layoffs in Portland, adding to 130 lost jobs in 2008.

May 2009: Metal Bulletin, a trade journal, reports Evraz plans to idle its Portland mill for at least two weeks this summer.

May 2009: Abramovich’s spokesmen deny rumors that the billionaire lost a yacht in a poker game in Barcelona.

June 2009: Moody’s considers downgrading Evraz’s credit rating for the second time in six months, endangering cash flow..
BEN JACKLET
 

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Ben J.
0 #1 Then they leave — Ben J. 2011-01-20 16:12:11
Jan. 20, 2011: Evraz moves its U.S. headquarters from Portland to Chicago.
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