Liberty Steel’s Romanian subsidiary buys CO2 certificates from Liberty Ostrava

The Romanian subsidiary of Liberty Steel - part of Indian billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance - purchased 100 mln of CO2 certificates from sister-company Liberty Ostrava.

The transaction, worth EUR 40 million, was concluded on the night between April 29-30, just in time to allow the Romanian plant to meet the required stock of certificates and avoid costly penalties.

The move prompted concerns among the trade union at Ostrava and the Czech authorities, which insist that the money thus obtained should be used at Ostrava - and not for substituting the group's financing needs.

"The transaction was carried out at the current market price, which will be paid immediately to Liberty Ostrava, with the possibility that it will repurchase the certificates at a lower price in the future," the GFG Alliance told Financial Times.

An initial proposal to monetize part of the company's surplus CO2 certificates, in line with the law, along with multiple measures to protect the Liberty Ostrava business, were blocked by unions and the Czech government in April, GFG also said.

Meanwhile, Liberty's Romanian subsidiary needed the certificates after it sold its certificates received according to the EU legislation last year, according to Profit.ro.

(Photo courtesy of the company)