Japan’s Mitsui & Co. may buy a large Siberian coal deposit from United Industrial Corp., owned by Russian businessman Sergey Pugachev. According to Dow Jones, a delegation from Tokyo-based trading company Mitsui visited Russia to examine the development of the Yelegestskoye coalfield, which is owned by a United Industrial’s subsidiary EPC. The mine holds 946 million metric tons of coking coal. Pugachev’s United Industrial Corp. is seeking cash to support his banking arm International Industrial Bank. United Industrial, which signed an agreement with Mitsui in 2008 to develop the Yelegestskoye coalfield, said it intends to keep a stake in EPC. United Industrial also said it is in talks to sell a stake in EPC to China’s Shenhua Energy Co.

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