Indian entrepreneur Lakshmi Mittal, who previously owned ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC, is leaving the UK due to the new tax policy that the Labour government is introducing for wealthy residents of the country.
According to Ulysmedia.kz, the 75-year-old businessman, whose fortune is estimated at £15.4 billion (10.4 trillion tenge), had lived in London since 1995 with his wife and children.
Mittal is known for owning prime property on Kensington Palace Gardens, charitable initiatives, and financial support for the Labour Party during the time of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
It is reported that a key factor for the move was the government's decision to abolish the non-dom regime — a system which, for more than 200 years, allowed foreigners to pay UK taxes only on income earned within the country.
For reference: the non-dom tax regime is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to reduce taxes on foreign income. To obtain non-dom status, one must spend more than 183 days a year in the country and become a tax resident.
The businessman's advisers claim that Mittal is primarily concerned about the UK's inheritance tax.
According to available information, the entrepreneur plans to spend more time in Dubai, where he owns a villa and other properties on Naiya Island. At the same time, he formally remains a tax resident of Switzerland.
Recall that in October 2023, a methane explosion at the Kostenko mine of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC in Karaganda claimed the lives of 46 miners. Also, prior to this, a fire broke out on a conveyor belt at the Kazakhstanskaya mine of the coal department of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC, where at the time there were 227 people inside the mine, five of whom died.
After these incidents, the government reported that a preliminary agreement had been reached with the company's shareholders and that the process of transferring ownership of the enterprise to Kazakhstan was being finalised.
As a result, Andrey Lavrentyev, who chairs the board of directors of the Allur Group of companies, became the new investor of ArcelorMittal Temirtau. After the appointment of the new owner, the enterprise was renamed 'Qarmet'.