（Reuters） - Ukraine's only primary aluminium maker ZALK, owned by the world's biggest aluminium producer UC RUSAL （0486.HK: Quote）, could be sold or stop production because of high electricity costs, the company said on Tuesday.
A RUSAL spokesman said in an emailed statement that the plant, privatised in 2000, had faced losses in the past few years due to high power tariffs. The government removed a special low electricity tariff for ZALK in 2005 and the company has repeatedly said it needed to return to the previous price.
The plant, in central Ukraine, cut aluminium output to 50,000 tonnes in 2009 from 112,800 in 2008, then reduced it further to about 25,000 tonnes in 2010, according to Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
"There are two options: to stop the plan completely or to sell it," the company official said in the statement.
"But the decision has not been adopted yet because we are waiting for a decision by the Ukrainian government over the tariff."
The new government of President Viktor Yanukovich is unlikely to cut prices for ZALK.
"Our position is the same as the previous government had," a government source told Reuters. （Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Anthony Barker）
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