Bloomberg reported that OAO Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel, controlled by billionaire mr Victor Rashnikov, had some of its Australian assets including a stake in Fortescue Metals Group, frozen under a court order sought by Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.

MMK is prevented from disposing of, dealing with or diminishing the value of any of its Australian assets up to the value of AUD 858 million, according to a November 25 order made in Sydney by Federal Court Justice Mr Steven Rares. This includes its 4.99% stake, valued at about AUD 735 million, Perth based Fortescue Metals Group.

Swiss trader ENRC Marketing AG, a unit of the Eurasian Natural Resources, which has operations in Kazakhstan, Russia and Brazil, has said that it's in dispute with MMK over iron ore shipments.

MMK reduced its orders to 700,000 tonnes of iron ore a month for the fourth quarter, even though it was contractually obligated to buy 1 million tonnes. The two companies agreed to a USD 8.4 billion, 10 year supply contract in 2007.

A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 9 at the court in Sydney. Rares issued the order following a hearing that was held without notice to MMK.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)