U.S. Steel in Košice (source: TASR)
Economy Minister Peter Žiga, Deputy PM for Investments and Informatisation Peter Pellegrini and Finance Minister Peter Kažimír (all Smer) met with representatives of U.S. Steel Košice on February 13.
The talks were rooted in the so-called joint memorandum, which obliges both parties to inform each other about new developments concerning the company, Žiga wrote on his Facebook profile.
“On behalf of the government, I can confirm that the pledge still holds that the cabinet will be party to negotiations on the sale of the steelmaker,” Žiga said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “We’ll protect the strategic interests of Slovakia and the Košice Region and insist that employment and steel production must be preserved in Košice regardless of who the future owner will be.”
Several media outlets have meanwhile reported that the American owners of U.S. Steel inked a memorandum of understanding in Pittsburgh with the Chinese He Steel Group on January 26, 2017.
“I won’t be commenting on that,” said U.S. Steel spokesperson Ján Bača, as quoted by TASR.
Czech-based company Moravia Steel, behind which stand Slovak millionaires headed by Tomáš Chrenek, was among the bidders, but the favourite hopeful was He Steel with its offer of €1.4 billion.
