MINoritní akcionáři ArcelorMittal Ostrava

Minoritní akcionáři ArcelorMittal Ostrava protestují proti použití části akcií jako zástavy za úvěry a proti nízkoúročeným půjčkám, které AMO poskytla mateřské společnosti ArcelorMittal S.A. (bývalé Mittal Steel) a jiným firmám. Zatímco desítky miliard korun ze společnosti zmizely v daňových rájích, tisíce dělníků byly ze železáren propouštěny a skončily na úřadu práce. Je jasné, že ArcelorMittal zisky „rozdělil“ jednostranně – jen sobě. Této netransparentnosti a naprostému nedostatku corporate governance je třeba učinit přítrž!
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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Minority Shareholders of ArcelorMittal complain to the PM about the company

Seven minority shareholders from the largest Czech steel company, ArcelorMittal Ostrava (AMO), sent a personal letter today to the Czech Premier, Jan Fischer. They’re complaining about the behaviour of the majority shareholder, ArcelorMittal that, according to them, is harming the interests of the minority shareholders. They are asking that the PM intervene on their behalf. ČTK received the letter from AMO shareholder, Jiří Psota.

“We want you, in our name and that of Czech citizens and tax payers, to appeal to the management of ArcelorMittal SA, and ask that the minority shareholders of AMO be treated fairly, as is common in proper corporate business practices in the EU and other developed nations where ArcelorMittal shares are traded,” they write in the letter. The shareholders remind the PM that after the privatisation of AMO in 2004, the Czech Republic became a shareholder once again in the company.

The shareholders are unhappy with the allegedly unconventional conditions of the state’s sale of its shares in AMO, especially the very unorthodox six-year payment schedule. According to them, in a very bad move, the state gave up its shareholder rights, so that the shares of the minority shareholders have been steadily devalued due to unusual transactions between AMO and the group of its majority shareholder.

The shareholders write that tens of billions of crowns have disappeared to tax havens, while thousands of people line up at the employment offices. “We believe that the reason behind this hidden distribution of profit is the conscious knowledge of the majority shareholder and statutory organs of AMO that the accumulated profits will not grow long-term,” they write in the letter.

A week ago, the majority shareholder of the Ostrava mill, ArcelorMittal Holdings AG, gained the ability to use up to 25% of their common shares (up to a maximum of 2,943 shares), held by the Ostrava daughter company, as collateral for a five-year period. The minority shareholders hold 3.5% of AMO stock.

You can find the entire letter to the Czech Prime Minister here.

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