UK Concern Over 'Opaque' Empire Of Billionaire Sanjeev Gupta

Kwasi Kwarteng told the BBC that Liberty Steel, which groups Gupta's steel activities, was a "national asset" employing around 3,000 people in Britain

Britain's business minister on Tuesday confirmed that Boris Johnson's government had refused a £170 million rescue package for billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's steel group due to his business empire's "very opaque" structure. Kwasi Kwarteng told the BBC that Liberty Steel, which groups Gupta's steel activities, was a "national asset" employing around 3,000 people in Britain but that the government could not pump money into "a black box". He called the structure of Liberty's owner -- Gupta Family Group (GFG) -- "very opaque" and "not helpful". "We are custodians of taxpayer's money... and we feel that if we gave the (£170 million, $235 million, 200 million euros) money, there was no guarantee that the money would stay in the UK and would protect British jobs," he said.