Kazakhstan makes political decision to push ArcelorMittal out of the country

The government of Kazakhstan is negotiating with stakeholders of ArcelorMittal about the company’s leaving the country. This information was revealed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Yerulan Zhamaubayev in the corridors of the cabinet, the Vlast edition reported.

What happened? The finance minister told journalists that the political decision about ArcelorMittal leaving the country has already been made.

He refused to clarify whether the government is negotiating with Russian Severstal for the purchase of ArcelorMittal assets.

«You probably heard that the decision was made. Roman Sklyar (the first deputy prime minister) is the one who is responsible for this issue,» said Zhamaubayev while commenting on the potential transfer of ArcelorMittal assets to the Russian company.

He also underlined that a circle of certain people should be involved in any negotiations regarding this massive enterprise because this is a very serious negotiating process.

«This is why third-party officials shouldn’t comment on this. Any comment can affect the process. It wouldn’t be right.» The official statement was already made. The political decision (about ArcelorMittal leaving from Kazakhstan) has been made, I guess. We need just to continue to work,” Zhamaubayev said.

The context. On August 17, at 10:05 a.m., a conveyor band of the Kazakhstanskaya coal mine with 227 miners in it started to burn. The authorities managed to evacuate 222 of them via a boundary shaft, which is normally used for getting ore, material, equipment and people downwards and upwards. Unfortunately, five miners have died. The body of the first miner was discovered on the day of the tragedy. The second and third bodies were found on August 18, while the fourth and fifth miners were discovered on August 19.

After the death of the five miners, ArcelorMittal announced a day of mourning.

The authorities’ reaction. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered the cabinet and the administration of the Karaganda region to investigate what caused the incident and provide all the necessary assistance to those who were affected by the tragedy. He also raised doubts about the further stay of ArcelorMittal in Kazakhstan.

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has put the responsibility for the tragedy in the mine on ArcelorMittal. Now, the company’s top management will face consequences, he said.

«First of all, this is the enterprise owners’ fault. A set of tragic events that happened over the past several years is the result of the company’s total neglect of safety. As we can see, the only thing they thought about was the profit. They haven’t paid enough attention to the safety of their workers. This is why we see incidents so often here. The death of people is the most tragic consequence of this,» the prime minister said.

Over the years that ArcelorMittal has operated in Kazakhstan, the company reported more than 100 lethal cases with its workers.