South Australian Energy Minister Tom Koutsan­tonis unloads on GFG’s almost $800m in Australian earnings sent offshore

Sanjeev Gupta’s companies have sent almost $800m in Australian earnings offshore for various purposes, South Australia’s Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsan­tonis says.

South Australian Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsan­tonis. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Sanjeev Gupta’s companies have sent almost $800m in Australian earnings, derived from more than $12bn in steel and iron ore sales, offshore for various purposes, ­including paying overseas creditors, South Australia’s Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsan­tonis says.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Koutsantonis said Mr Gupta’s GFG Alliance group of companies “reaped significant profits from their facilities here – but ­despite long-made promises, it has failed to invest back into the ­steelworks’’.

Sanjeev Gupta’s companies have sent almost $800m in Australian earnings, derived from more than $12bn in steel and iron ore sales, offshore for various purposes. Picture: Dean Martin

He also stressed that the failure of the steelworks under Mr Gupta’s leadership was GFG’s ­responsibility, and added “this is not a Whyalla problem – it is a GFG problem’’.

“This is not a situation the state government has created, but it’s one that is incumbent on us to resolve – for the benefit of GFG’s many unpaid creditors, for the people of Whyalla and for the state as a whole,’’ Mr Koutsantonis said.

“GFG has reaped significant profits from their facilities here – but despite long-made promises, it has failed to invest back into the steelworks. Since FY2017/18 Mr Gupta’s company has seen iron ore sales values totalling $7.825bn from their South Australian operations, while since FY19/20 total steel sales have amounted to $4.8bn. In the same period, we have seen nearly $800m sent offshore, including repayments arising from the Greensill collapse, payments of intercompany loans within the GFG group and funding towards the purchase of the Liberty South Korea business.’’

News Corp Australia reported in December that evidence sighted by a reporter suggested GFG had extracted $430m from the Australian steel and iron ore operations to service intracompany loans across the global GFG group.

While there is no suggestion this practice is illegal, rumours this occurred, along with Mr Gupta’s purchase of tens of millions of dollars worth of high-end Sydney real estate, including the $34m harbourside mansion Bomera, had angered local creditors.

Internal GFG documents sighted by News Corp Australia in December showed that in 2022–23, GFG took out $156m from its Australian operations to cover the final payment to a Credit Suisse loan. In 2023-24, that amount rose to $274m taken from Australia to fund other intracompany loans. The amount set to be extracted from Australia in this 2024–25 fin­ancial year is $342m, $10m of which was paid this ­August, ­according to GFG ­financial statements seen by News Corp Australia.

Mr Koutsantonis said Mr Gupta’s GFG Alliance group of companies “reaped significant profits from their facilities here. Picture: Brett Hartwig

The documents suggest that as the international debt woes became worse for GFG Alliance, the company was moving more and more money out of Australia to keep itself afloat internationally.

GFG announced on Friday that it had struck a deal with the creditors of its failed financier, Greensill, which collapsed in 2021, which would wipe the slate clean for the company. While the deal has been agreed, it has not been legally finalised. When Greensill collapsed, GFG was on the hook for a reported $US5bn.

GFG also announced last week that it would put the Tahmoor coal mine in NSW up for sale, which is expected to attract bids in the $800m range, and the money raised would go towards bolstering the Whyalla operations.

Mr Gupta did not commit to a timeline for paying back creditors at Whyalla during an interview at the weekend.

Documents leaked to News Corp Australia indicate the ­company’s local debts are in the $300m range.

GFG did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Originally published as South Australian Energy Minister Tom Koutsan­tonis unloads on GFG’s almost $800m in Australian earnings sent offshore