| Lakshmi Mittal fulfills all obligations for the development of Krivorozhstal, except for increasing salaries After the sale of Krivorozhstal in October last year for $4.8 billion, the favorite topic of speculation among the Ukrainian opposition was reproaches to the new owner of the country's main steel plant, the owner of the world's largest metallurgical corporation Lakshmi Mittal, for failure to fulfill competition obligations. But yesterday, the head of the State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine, Valentina Semenyuk, said that during inspections at the plant, her agency did not reveal any serious violations on the part of Mittal Steel: the technical condition is maintained, the modernization of the steel plant and environmental programs at the enterprise are being implemented in full.
The SPF conducted an interim check of Mittal Steel Corporation's fulfillment of investment obligations assumed upon the purchase of 93.02% of Krivorozhstal shares from March 13 to 17. According to the obligations, the new owner of the plant must ensure modernization of production, including environmental modernization, maintain the number of personnel, sell part of the products on the domestic market, and also keep the income and profit of the plant at a certain level in the next ten years.
“The conditions of the competition are being met, but there are two small remarks,” Interfax quotes Ms. Semenyuk. They concern an increase in wages for the company's employees at least to the subsistence level of 483 hryvnia (2,630 rubles) established by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and the recalculation of the 13th salary for 2005. Ms. Semenyuk said that the State Property Fund obliged the management of the enterprise to satisfy the requirements of the inspection commission within ten days. That is, before the elections to the Verkhovna Rada (to be held next Sunday), voters working at Krivorozhstal should receive money that is worthy from the point of view of the Ukrainian executive power.
One of the main fighters against the “ineffective management” of the largest Ukrainian plant was the party of Viktor Yanukovych. She accused Mr. Mittal of providing Krivorozhstal with raw materials from his foreign enterprises and refusing to purchase similar goods from Ukrainian manufacturers. However, such a clause was not spelled out in the competition agreement. Anna LANDER |
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