A cash injection for Liberty. Jaroslav Strnad’s company will take over part of the production operations

Vítkovice Machinery Trade, part of the CE Industries group, is set to finance the operation of the tube mill and flat product rolling mill at Liberty Ostrava from October. The insolvency administrator recommended the offer to the creditors’ committee as the best among the bidders for the financing. The measure is expected to safeguard up to two thousand jobs.

From October, the tube mill and flat products rolling mill at the bankrupt Liberty Ostrava steelworks are set to be financed by Vítkovice Machinery Trade, part of the CE Industries group owned by billionaire Jaroslav Strnad. Following intensive negotiations, it submitted the most advantageous bid among those interested in tolling and credit financing, and Liberty’s insolvency administrator, Šimon Peták, recommended it to the provisional creditors’ committee.

Administrator Peták stated that the decision would lead to cost savings and an increase in asset value in the range of hundreds of millions to just under a billion crowns, whilst preserving up to two thousand jobs.

VMT will provide tolling financing and loans to cover staff wages. The administrator will negotiate contractual terms covering approximately 2–3 billion Czech koruna for tolling and more than 500 million for operating costs.

Liberty Ostrava has been at a standstill since December last year, when Tameh Czech halted energy supplies. It has been in bankruptcy since June. The steelworks has belonged to the Liberty Steel Group, owned by British businessman Sanjeev Gupta, since 2019.