Pakistan Steel Mills CEO’s term extended
The government could not afford to keep paying salaries to employees without any production in the steel mill and a decision should be taken soon to avoid further losses. PHOTO: FILE
The government has reappointed Brigadier (Retd) Shujah Hassan Khurazmi as chief executive officer (CEO) of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
PSM has been dysfunctional since June 2015 and as a result multiple administrative issues like land grabbing, theft, misuse of resources, rationalisation of human resources, protracted national and international litigation and various statutory requirements have cropped up.
In order to address the complicated situation and facilitate the PSM revival process, the federal cabinet had appointed Khurazmi as CEO on the recommendation of PSM’s board of directors for a period of one year, which expired on August 19, 2021.
The PSM board, in its meeting held on July 13, 2021, recommended an extension in the contract of the CEO by one year with effect from August 20, 2021.
According to Section 187(1) of the Companies Act 2017, the tenure of CEO should not be more than three years from the date of appointment.
The CEO completed his one year of service on August 19, 2021.
As per Section 186(4) of the Companies Act 2017 and Article 87 of the Articles of Association of Pakistan Steel Mills, the federal cabinet is the competent authority to approve the appointment of CEOs.
Moreover, Section 187(2) of the Companies Act 2017 stated that the chief executive officer, on his expiry of term, should be eligible for reappointment.
Therefore, the federal cabinet was requested to consider the proposal of reappointment of Khurazmi as CEO of PSM for one more year on the same remuneration package that was approved by the board of directors on January 1, 2021.
The appointment can be terminated on one month’s notice by either side.
The cabinet considered a summary titled “Reappointment of Brig (Retd) Shujah Hassan Khurazmi as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM)” and approved the appointment. The industries ministry had submitted the summary.
The government has decided to revive PSM through a competitive bidding process in line with the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation’s (CCOP) decision taken on June 17, 2019. The revival process of PSM is currently at an advanced stage.A new subsidiary, Steel Corp Limited, has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), which is part of the revival plan.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2021.
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