The government is negotiating with the shareholders of ArcelorMittal about their withdrawal from Kazakhstan. This was announced on the sidelines of the government by Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerulan Zhamaubaev, Vlast writes.
What happened. Finance Minister Zhamaubayev told reporters that the political decision to withdraw ArcelorMittal from Kazakhstan had already been made.
He did not specify whether the government is in talks with the Russian company Severstal to buy the assets of ArcelorMittal.
“You all have already heard, the statement has been made. This issue is dealt with directly by Roman Sklyar (First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan),” Zhamaubaev answered the question about the transfer of ownership of ArcelorMittal to a Russian company.
The official emphasized that “a certain circle of people” should be engaged in negotiations on a large enterprise, since this should be a serious negotiation process.
“Therefore, if everyone comments incompetently at their level, it will be wrong. Moreover, it can affect the negotiation process. So the announcement has already been made. I think there is a political solution (to leave ArcelorMittal from Kazakhstan). Therefore, we will work,” Zhamaubaev assured.
Context. On August 17 at 10:05 a conveyor belt caught fire at the Kazakhstan mine. There were 227 miners underground. Of these, 222 managed to be evacuated through the flank shaft used for lowering and raising minerals, rocks, materials, equipment, and people. Five people died. The body of the first was found on the day of the tragedy, on August 18 – the second and third dead, on the 19th – the fourth and fifth.
After the death of five miners, a day of mourning was declared at ArcelorMittal Temirtau.
The reaction of the authorities. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government and the akimat of the Karaganda region to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the accident and provide all necessary assistance to the victims. He questioned the further presence of ArcelorMittal Temirtau in Kazakhstan.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Alikhan Smailov, also stated that the owners of the enterprise were to blame for the tragedy at the ArcelorMittal Temirtau mines. Responsibility for the death of people will be borne by the top management of the company.
“This is primarily the fault of the owners of the enterprise. Their complete self-withdrawal from the life of the company has led to tragic consequences for several years now. As we can see, for the entire period of activity, attention was paid only to making a profit without creating an adequate level of security for workers. Therefore, accidents are often repeated and, most tragically, people die,” the Prime Minister said.
Over the years of work of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC (AMT), there are more than a hundred dead miners at the enterprise.
