The grant of $500m announced by Russia for Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) would not be of the same monetary value once they have evaluated the exact cost required for rehabilitation. This will take place after a technical survey of the mills in the coming four weeks. Federal Secretary, Ministry of Production, Javaid Awan while talking to Profit said a team comprising 20 experts from Russia is to visit the mills in the coming four weeks to carry out a technical survey, and after that they would gauge the exact cost required for the rehabilitation and expansion of the mills. This in turn could be less than the announced grant. However, PSM workers termed it another gimmick of the current government.
Pointless grant
Awan said this grant is pointless until both governments sign an agreement. Already, numerous announcements regarding rehabilitation and expansion of the mills have yet to materialise. Talking to Profit, a representative of the PSM Joint Action Committee, Mirza Maqsood, said the prime minister made a similar announcement during his visit to Russia last year. Yet no progress has been made so far. The current government has dissolved three boards of the mills instead. The federal secretary further said this is a three-year project aimed at increasing production capacity of the mills from 1.1m tonnes to 1.5m tonnes per year. A team of 20 experts from Russia will visit the mills for a technical survey, he added. After the evaluation an agreement would be signed between both countries.
Still a non-entity
“This grant will be in the form of a loan, and we may need more than the announced amount once technical evaluation is completed. But at the moment we cannot say anything, so we have to wait till the signing of the agreement in this regard,” Javaid said.
On the other hand, workers at the mills demand a proper working system, adding that the enterprise is being run on an adhoc basis for more than a year. This despite the fact that the government has restructured new laws for the board of directors, but it is still a non-entity without any powers.
Mirza Maqssod further said this newly announced grant from Russia is going to add on the liabilities PSM already has, and it is possible that Russia might ask for management control of the mills in lieu of this grant.
Political interference
He said the PSM strongly needs a halt to political interference, full empowerment of the BoD, and recovery of the money the mills lost due to corruption. “The mills are going through massive crisis, and the administration ironically demanded the 27 per cent increase in the salaries of the lower staff; so one can understand how serious they are in their efforts to make the mills come out of the crisis,’ he added. It is pertinent to mention that, according to the federal secretary of the ministry of production, Russian government has recently announced $500m grant for the expansion and rehabilitation of PSM.
