Metinvest CEO Mr Ryzhenkov Promises to Rebuild Modern Azovstal
Strategic Research Institute
Published on :
24 Nov, 2022, 5:19 am
Ukrainian steel maker Metinvest’s CEO Mr Yuriy Ryzhenkov in an interview to the British BBC Radio 4, in which he spoke about the situation in the energy sector of Ukraine, the restoration of production, the conditions for ending the war, the resilience of Ukrainians and the new Marshall Plan for the country.
Mr Ryzhenkov, while answering a question about his Azovstal bracelet on his wrist, said “It is a pity that Azovstal became famous not for skyscrapers in London or cruisers in the Mediterranean Sea, which were built from Azovstal steel. The plant became known to the whole world because it was destroyed. I think that the people of Mariupol and all of us share the feeling that we need restoration. Azovstal is a symbol that we need to restore.
He added that “After the de occupation, we will return to Mariupol: we will begin to restore enterprises there, we will begin to restore industry. Of course, we will not rebuild the old industry in its pre-war format. We will build a new industry there, a more modern and ecological one. Regarding the financing of this reconstruction, here we are waiting for some help, for example, from the government, from the reparations that we will receive from Russia.”
While answering a question about Russia destroying large part of energy infrastructure of Ukraine, Mr Ryzhenkov said “If you don't have electricity, you also don't have sewage, water and heating. And all this creates or can create a big humanitarian problem. But currently, Ukrainian energy companies manage to keep the system in working order, even in spite of all the difficulties. Ukraine is partly an agrarian country, so we have quite a few places where most of us have relatives in houses that can be heated with coal or firewood. We survived the 90s, when in some places we had neither electricity nor water, so this will definitely not make the Ukrainian people go and tell our president let's stop defending the country. In fact, these events will make people even stronger, because they know who to blame for them. People know the root cause of their suffering, so they are more likely to join the armed forces and support the army even more because they understand who the enemy is.”