Disputed steel plant: France, ArcelorMittal reach deal
A part of a plant that had been under the threat of closure will not be nationalised: French Prime Minister
PARIS:
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Friday that a deal had been reached with steel group ArcelorMittal and that a part of a plant that had been under the threat of closure will not be nationalised. The government has not retained “a temporary nationalisation,” Ayrault said, after marathon talks with ArcelorMittal. The steel group had committed to invest 180 million euros ($234 million) over five years in the endangered Florange site in northeastern France, he added. For the past three days France and ArcelorMittal have been locked in heated negotiations, pressed to meet a deadline set by the steel giant to find a buyer for two blast furnaces on the site in the northeastern Lorraine region. The dispute came to a head on Monday when Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg accused the steel group, owned by tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, of blackmailing France. They were “no longer welcome in France”, he said, sparking outrage in business circles.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2012.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Friday that a deal had been reached with steel group ArcelorMittal and that a part of a plant that had been under the threat of closure will not be nationalised. The government has not retained “a temporary nationalisation,” Ayrault said, after marathon talks with ArcelorMittal. The steel group had committed to invest 180 million euros ($234 million) over five years in the endangered Florange site in northeastern France, he added. For the past three days France and ArcelorMittal have been locked in heated negotiations, pressed to meet a deadline set by the steel giant to find a buyer for two blast furnaces on the site in the northeastern Lorraine region. The dispute came to a head on Monday when Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg accused the steel group, owned by tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, of blackmailing France. They were “no longer welcome in France”, he said, sparking outrage in business circles.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2012.