ASTANA (Reuters) – Steelmaker ArcelorMittal sold its Kazakh assets – the Temirtau steel plant and the Aktau pipe factory – for $286 million (265.3 million euros) to a Kazakh state fund, a announced the local Ministry of Industry on Friday.
Industry Minister Kanat Sharlapayev also said the government had agreed with local auto magnate Andrei Lavrentyev that it would take over the steel plant.
According to Kanat Sharlapayev, the government’s involvement in the transaction made it possible to obtain a lower price for the assets.
However, the new owner of the Temirtau steelworks will have to repay $700 million in debt to ArcelorMittal over the next four years.
Kazakh President Kassim-Jomart Tokayev had ordered his cabinet to end investment cooperation with subsidiary ArcelorMittal Temirtau following a series of deadly incidents at its facilities, culminating in the coal mine fire that killed 46 people in October.
ArcelorMittal, for its part, confirmed on Friday that it had finalized the sale of its steel and mining activities in the country.
(Reporting Tamara Vaal; written by Olzhas Auyezov; Diana Mandiá, editing by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
