(JB) ArcelorMittal chiefs are to hold three days of meetings to discuss the firm's plan to reduce costs by a quarter.

The European Works Council will meet on with Areclor Mittal to discuss details of the savings plan affecting operations on European soil.

Exact measures have yet to be announced but an LCG-B spokesman says that they are likely to have serious consequences for Luxembourg, where ArcelorMittal employs 1,200 people.

These fears come despite the fact that in an ealier interview with firm boss Lakshmi Mittal, he assured that Luxembourg production would not be affected.

ArcelorMittal says that it has a second plan to shave costs. Omega, as the project is dubbed, would see management structures analysed for productivity and efficiency, with the result that some jobs may be consolidated into single roles.

This plan would affect mainly sales, distribution and accounting departments within the steel giant. Further cost-cutting in Luxembourg would certainly appear contradictory to the company's stated aims and planned investments.

This year ArcelorMittal announced investment of up to 40 million euros in production sites in Esch-Belval and Differdange with total investment by 2016 expected to reach 150 million euros.