Kazakh government seeks Kazakhmys board seat
ASTANA, June 11 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's government will seek a seat on the board of copper miner Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) after accumulating a 15 percent stake in the world's No. 10 producer of the metal, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
The government swapped a 7.7 percent stake in another Kazakh miner, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp Plc (ENRC.L), for a stake in Kazakhmys earlier this week.
"We will carry out negotiations to get a seat on the board of Kazakhmys to promote state policies and strategy," Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Yergozhin told reporters.
"We will not interfere with the day-to-day activities," he said. "We will be a strategic observer, making sure that not only shareholders' interests are pursued, but the interests of the state as well."
The deal has made the government a significant shareholder in both of the nation's major mining and metals groups, as it retains an 11.7 percent stake in ENRC.
"We are now in a position to influence the whole metals industry of Kazakhstan," Yergozhin said. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov)
