"Kazakhstani structure of metallurgical company ArcelorMittal, ArcelorMittal Temirtau has notified the official distributor of Gaspromneft- lubricants in Kazakhstan - Nik Oil Ltd about temporary termination of cooperation," reads the message with a reference to a letter sent to Nik Oil.
The decision has been taken due to the sanctions of Ukraine and EU against Gaspromneft in order to avoid reputation risk for the director general of AMT Temirtau and AMT.
AMT Temirtau did not answer the phone calls.
In turn, Gaspromneft-lubricants said the incident was misunderstanding.
A source familiar with the situation said Gaspromneft hopes the misunderstanding will be settled in the near future.
Nikolay Garder, director of Nik-Oil, told Kommersant that the company was informed about the contract termination in mid-June.
"We were surprised, and then we got this letter," he said.
He said he plans to apply to the National Business Chamber of Kazakhstan to appeal the AMT's actions.
He added that Rosneft, which is also under sanctions, keeps on cooperating with AMT.
The sources in AMT said the decision was taken by the management: "In fact not ours, but the international management".
Photo source: picture from an open source