Slovak businessman sued for "sabotaging steel mill talks"

Slovak businessman sued for "sabotaging steel mill talks"

Kamaras is also accused of "breach of contract, abuse of confidential information, and unfair competition."

Last month, the Serbian government announced that negotiations with Esmark had fallen through because the U.S. company "failed to provide guarantees that Serbia's working capital would be preserved and that the factory would not be shut down."

Bouchard described how and in what capacity Kamaras conducted the negotiations - "and how he sabotaged them" - but did not specify "why a company as large as Esmark would have unlimited confidence in him and how it could leave one man in charge of the negotiations," the daily writes.

Esmark said a statement the Slovak "neglected loyalty and ethical business practices" toward the U.S. company's European operation and its partners when he "secretly made a Plan B."

The consequence of such a plan, said Esmark, was the failure of the negotiations with the Serbian government - "which enabled Kamaras to thwart Esmark's attempts to buy Zelezara and usurp the opportunity to lead a new management team of the steelworks and to, if he succeeds in this, make profit and achieve favorable ore supply arrangements."

Esmark alleges that Kamaras would be able to do this by using the confidential information he received from the company, and also accused him of "persuading" members of the Privatization Commission to vote against Esmark's takeover.

For all this, Esmark is seeking damages in the amount of over USD 100 million.

At the same time, Bouchard spoke for the daily and presented grandiose plans he still has for the Serbian steel plant, stating that Esmark has already prepared a restructuring plan "which provides a secure future for 5,300 workers."

"We are not giving up on Zelezara," he said, and added that his company "wants to start doing business in Serbia."

In addition, despite failing to acquire the steel maker, Esmark now intends to take part in a tender called by the government to select a management team for the company.

According to Bouchard, their intention is to manage Zelezare during the next eight months and then, no later than January next year, acquire a majority stake in the company.

He believes that he has "a business plan and world class management" for Zelezara.

The Esmark owner also said that the business plan produced by his company was not funded by the Serbian government. "Together with a network of partners around the world, from Asia to North America, we will certainly be able to launch the planned production without the participation of any third player in this business," says Bouchard.

According to him, the plan for Zelezara was produced during the previous ten months, and saw Esmark managers "work closely with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic, as well as other members of the privatization working group, union representatives, and U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Michael Kirby."

This plan, said Bouchard, so far cost his company USD 3 million.