Slovak businessman sued for "sabotaging steel mill talks"

Slovak businessman sued for "sabotaging steel mill talks"

BELGRADE -- Esmark owner James Bouchard has confirmed that a criminal complaint has been filed against Peter Kamaras for "sabotaging" the acquisition of Zelezara.

The lawsuit was filed in a court in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, and alleges the Slovak businessman sabotaged the privatization process of the Smederevo-based plant, and Esmark's attempt to take over the company, the Belgrade-based newspaper Blic quoted Bouchard as saying.

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...