Government inks agreement to take over Zelezara Smederevo steelworks from U.S. Steel

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic signed Tuesday an agreement with representatives of U.S. Steel to buy back Zelezara Smederevo steelworks from that US company, thus making the Serbian government the new owner of that steel mill.

On behalf of U.S. Steel, this agreement was signed by Vice President of European Operations David J. Rintoul.

Following the signing, Cvetkovic said the government wanted to resell the plant as soon as possible to avoid further strain on the budget.

- The government will put maximum effort into maintaining the production and finding a strategic partner and a way to enable the factory to start making a profit after the crisis - said Prime Minister Cvetkovic.

Cvetkovic stressed that the steelworks in Smederevo was the best example of how strong the global economic crisis was and how much it affected Serbia.

He pointed out that the government had come to a conclusion that the takeover of Zelezara Smederevo was a better option than to close the steel mill, primarily because it would save people's jobs.