They have done business together in the past. Last month, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg visited Russia for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on a joint venture between Severstal and Arcelor.
On Friday, the Luxembourg government, which is the largest Arcelor shareholder, said it was waiting to see an industrial plan that would include impact on jobs before it approved any deal with Mittal.
Aleksandr Pukhayev, a metals analyst at Deutsche UFG in Moscow, said the jump in Severstal stock was fed by more than just merger speculation. "It is remarkable and shows something is happening," he said.
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