ERG does not yet plan to participate in the purchase of ArcelorMittal Temirtau, to which it supplies its products, said Serik Shakhazhanov, chairman of the board of the Eurasian Group company (part of ERG ) .
“Of course, this is a question for the board of managers, but in general today we are aimed at developing our existing production enterprises (ERG. – “Italics”). We are now focusing more on the ERG business. Not yet (they do not plan to participate in the purchase of AMT. – “Italics”),” he told reporters.
At the same time, Shakhazhanov clarified that the Sokolovsko-Sarbai Mining and Processing Enterprise (SSGPO is part of the ERG structure) continues to supply iron ore raw materials to AMT in previously planned volumes.
The new investor of ArcelorMittal Temirtau will be a Kazakh businessman not connected with Russia, First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said at a briefing on November 4 . According to him, ownership of AMT will be transferred to a domestic investor, “who will buy the enterprise at market value.”
“A foreign investor who has owned this enterprise for a long time will sell its assets to a domestic investor. Now we cannot say the name of this company, but you will find out in due time, because negotiations are currently underway between them,” Sklyar noted.
The First Deputy Prime Minister said that the new investor is not connected with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian dollar billionaires.
“I responsibly declare to you that this is nothing more than speculation and fake news, that some foreign companies or people from other countries will come and own the enterprise. Either themselves or through some dummies. My opinion is that in the age of digitalization, any figurehead will emerge sooner or later. Therefore, this makes no sense,” Sklyar replied.
After completion of the purchase and sale transaction, the investor must invest more than $1 billion over the next year and $3 billion over 3-5 years, fulfill the schedule for investing in industrial safety, and also expand the range of products (currently it is represented by two types of products).
“He has a clear business plan, he has a model, he has sources of funds, so I ask you to be a little patient. Investors themselves will tell you,” Sklyar noted.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the new investor was present at a meeting between President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and businessmen in September.
“Kursiv” previously wrote about which investor will replace Mittal in Temirtau, and explained how ArcelorMittal’s business works.
SSGPO produced 5 million tons of iron ore concentrate and pellets in the first half of the year, compared to 6.2 million tons in the same period in 2022, ERG told Kursiv. SSGPO managed to resume supplies to some Russian enterprises, including the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant and the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant. However, total supply volumes to the Russian Federation decreased by approximately 500 thousand tons due to the cessation of exports to the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, which, before being included in Western sanctions lists, was historically the largest importer of SSGPO products.
The ultimate owners of ERG are the Ministry of Finance – 40%, Alexander Mashkevich and the Ibragimov family – 20.7% each, Patokh Shodiev – 18.6%. Alexander Mashkevich, Patokh Shodiev and the family of the late Alidzhan Ibragimov (wife Mukadaskhan Ibragimov and four sons (Dostan, Davron, Shukhrat and Furkhat) became the first dollar billionaires according to Forbes in Kazakhstan in 2005 with a capital of $1 billion each. Later Alexander Mashkevich and Patokh Chodiev changed their citizenship from Kazakh to Israeli and Belgian, respectively.The chairman of the board of directors and major shareholder of the Eurasian Resources Group, Alexander Mashkevich, was ranked sixth among the richest Israelis in the Forbes ranking last year – $3.7 billion.