The Kazakh government is committed to completing the transfer of ArcelorMittal Temirtau to the Kazakh investor by the end of November, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov said. He hopes that no force majeure will happen and the deal will be officially announced next week.
“We are now specifically working on this (on the transfer – V.). And we set ourselves a deadline – to complete this deal and legalize this deal by the end of November. We are heading towards this. God grant that nothing force majeure happens, and next week, I think, we will complete it,” Smailov told reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of the Senate.
He once again emphasized that budget funds will not be used to buy out the enterprise; it is planned to attract money from a Kazakh investor.
The prime minister recalled that the preliminary purchase and sale agreement was signed a month ago, and the final one is scheduled to be signed next week.
Earlier, Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapaev said that the issue of attracting a new foreign investor for the ArcelorMittal Temirtau company, which becomes the property of the government, is not being considered. He also assured that all the current conditions of the enterprise, based on collective agreements with trade unions, wages, and the number of employees will remain unchanged when a new investor arrives. At the same time, Sharlapaev refused to announce the terms of the deal for ArcelorMittal Temirtau, but named preliminary dates – the end of November. He also said that the issue of appointing former Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov as head of the company “was not discussed.”
