TNI Bureau: French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that the deal with Steel group ArcelorMittal, which was under fire for past three days, would not be nationalised. The plant was asked to meet the deadline to find a buyer for two blast furnaces on the site in the northeastern Lorraine region.
The steel group had committed to invest $234 million over five years at Florange site in northeastern France. The French industrial sector was criticised after 650 jobs were cut at Florange site yesterday and around 750,000 employees lost their jobs in the last decade.
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The steel giant came under fire on Monday after Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg accused the steel group, owned by Indian-born Lakshmi Mittal, of blackmailing France.
Ayrault said that two blast furnaces closed by ArcelorMittal would be left intact for now until EU financing was confirmed for an existing carbon-capture project.