Reuters reported that shareholders in Argentine steelmaker Siderar approved a stalled dividend payment of ARA 1.5 billion after the firm patched up differences with the government.

Siderar had been at odds with the center left government since April 2011, when President Ms Cristina Fernandez tightened control over leading companies by scrapping limits on the Anses pension agency's voting rights on private boards of directors.

Officials at Siderar challenged the government decree in court and resisted the pension agency's expanded presence on its board. At the same time, the government challenged the dividend payment for 2010 originally approved in April 2011, saying the shareholders' meeting should be declared void. This was upheld by the country's stock market regulator and a local court.

In the end, the pensions agency increased the number of its representatives on Siderar's board of directors to three from one and shareholders approved the stalled dividend payment.

Siderar is majority owned by Ternium SA, which is controlled by Argentina's Techint conglomerate and has steel operations in Mexico and Argentina. The Anses hold a 26% stake in Siderar, one of 42 companies the pensions agency owns shares in as a result of Fernandez's 2008 nationalization of private pension funds.

In April 2011, the government eliminated a rule limiting the state to holding just 5% of voting rights on company boards, even when its stakes were greater.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)