Czech authorities question liberty’s credibility for buying ArcelorMittal Ostrava

摘要

Czech government questions solvency of Liberty House Group (Liberty) as a future buyer of ArcelorMittal ostrava, which was included in ArcelorMittal’s divestment package necessary for Ilva’s acquisition. Czech Republic’s prime minister Andrej Babis doubts that the investor will be able to meet its commitments for the ostrava plant, which include maintaining steel production, job preservation and environmental investments, according to local sources. The concerns about Liberty’s inability to finance the project are based on the information about debts of the Indian owner of Liberty, the Czech media sources report. Unions also fear that the buyer will not invest in non-strategic Cen- tral European region and only use ostrava as “a low-cost regional supplier,” Metal Expert reported earlier.