The general assembly of the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company approved on September 22 an extension of the liquidation period for a fifth year starting January 2025, amid protests from individual shareholders. Minority shareholders accuse the liquidation committee of stalling and concealing information on asset sales at undervalued prices, pointing to corruption in the process. Despite aims to halt losses, only 46 percent of non-land assets have been sold so far.
The extraordinary general assembly of the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company (EISC) decided on January 11, 2021, to liquidate it within two years, but the deadline has been extended multiple times, the latest on September 22, 2024, for a fifth year. Minority shareholders hold 15.52 percent of shares, while the Metallurgical Industries Holding Company (MIHC) owns 84.48 percent. Shareholders demanded a precise inventory of assets, especially land, and a fair market valuation, but faced "stalling and procrastination" from five successive liquidation committees.
Shareholders filed complaints with the Egyptian Exchange and the Financial Regulatory Authority, calling for the dismissal of current liquidator Osama Badawy, appointed on April 25, 2024, for violating Law 144/1988. The committee concealed contracts for selling production lines and scrap worth LE14 billion and ignored Central Auditing Organization (CAO) requests for a real warehouse inventory. Some land was re-designated for environmentally friendly industrial use, despite assembly approval to shift it to real estate for maximum returns, especially in prime Nile-overlooking spots in Helwan.
CAO reports criticized "direct order" asset sales at below-valuation prices, favoring sovereign-affiliated companies. For instance, the pipe warehouse and furnaces 3 and 4 were sold to Multi-Trade Cairo (a General Intelligence Service subsidiary) for LE1.534 billion, against an average valuation of LE2.358 billion. Contracts with it were amended to waive penalties and extend deadlines, without performance guarantees. Iron materials were sold to Upper Egypt Company for Agricultural Manufacturing (Defense Ministry subsidiary) at LE4,100 per ton, then amicably terminated after thefts, without legal action.
On land, the inventory revealed a 1,124,917 square meter discrepancy between records (8,899,343 sqm) and reality (7,774,426 sqm). Liquidator Badawy stated in the assembly a total of 2,615 feddans, including expropriated land. Land was transferred to Banque Misr in 2020 to settle LE375 million in debts, but CAO demands collection of outstanding LE16.5 million, amid ownership disputes. The Qabbary warehouse land in Alexandria (14,012 sqm) was sold to the Defense Ministry at LE1,000 per sqm, with unclear payment status.
Encroachments include 107 feddans in Tebbin and 123 feddans occupied by seven government entities. By end-2024, liquidation collected LE2 billion against LE7.3 billion obligations, with LE14 billion in uncollected contracts. CAO representative Dalia al-Sharkawy said: "Some deliveries extend beyond December 13, 2025." Shareholders chanted: "Void, void, void. Five years of liquidation is void."
