Reuters reported that Egypt could reach a decision in weeks on the fate of operating licenses for two Ezz Steel plants and three licenses for other firms.

Egypt’s trade and industry minister Mr Mahmoud Eisa told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit that the government wants to make sure the companies pay fines imposed by a recent court ruling but wants them to keep the operating licenses taken from them by the ruling because that scenario would best serve the companies, the state and the workers involved.

Mr Eisa told “We haven't cancelled these licenses yet until we finish all these negotiations with them, which are still running.”

Asked about the timing of a decision, he said “Maybe several weeks, we will have a final decision.”

Mr Eisa said the goal is to find a solution that would mean the firms retained the licenses, although if no agreement was reached, they would be scrapped. He said "We don't want to reach this because we will be all losers. The company will be one of the losers. The government will be a loser because it is a big investment. We want to keep the workers of all these projects. The common benefit for all parties is to keep these licenses, to comply with the court decision and this is what we are targeting. I think we will reach this position.”

He added that “Discussions included possibly arranging payments of fines or other costs over periods. Another was negotiating terms related to energy supplies the licenses required. We are working to make it easier to conform with the decision with less financial impact.”

Shares in Ezz Steel, Egypt's biggest steel producer, were hit by the September court ruling, in which its former chairman was jailed on graft charges and it was ordered to pay EGP 660 million and lose the licenses.

(Sourced from Reuters)