Kazakh investor to complete purchase of ArcelorMittal Temirtau before December - Kazakh authorities

ASTANA. Nov 23 (Interfax) - The deal for a Kazakh investor to acquire ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC is expected to conclude by November 30, Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister, Roman Sklyar, said.

"The purchase contract for ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC is currently under negotiation. The enterprise is being acquired by a national investor at a pre-agreed price, with the final cost to be disclosed upon the deal's completion, which is anticipated before November 30," Sklyar told reporters in parliament on Thursday.

"The company [ArcelorMittal, current owner of the metallurgical plant] has no complaints against the authorities. It recognizes and is aware of the existing problems, including violations in labor protection, industrial safety, and environmental compliance," he said, adding that despite these violations, the sale of the company is being conducted within the legal framework.

"This sale does not represent nationalization or anything of the sort," he said.

As previously reported, at the end of October, at one of the coal mines of ArcelorMittal Temirtau experienced the largest accident in the plant's history in terms of the number of victims. As a result of the fire and subsequent mine explosion, 46 miners perished. Shortly after the emergency, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government to cease investment cooperation with ArcelorMittal.

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov later noted that the transfer of the company to Kazakh ownership was nearing completion. It involves a private Kazakh investor who is expected to invest $3 billion over three years. Kazakhstan's Industry Ministry sees the potential for increasing ArcelorMittal Temirtau's steel production capacity 40%-50% to 4.5-4.8 million tonnes from the current 3.2 million tonnes per year.

As of September 30, the steel plant's book value was $1.8 billion. ArcelorMittal said.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC owns 15 coal and iron ore mines in Kazakhstan. Industrial accidents, some resulting in the deaths of workers, have occurred at the steel plant's facilities more than once.