Metinvest is able to work with creditors and investors despite the war – CEO

Currently, the group's steel plants in Ukraine are 60-70% loaded

Despite the full-scale war, Metinvest is able to work with creditors and investors, as well as make some local investments. The CEO of the company Yuriy Ryzhenkov told about it in the interview for FAQTalks with the company’s director of corporate communications Oleg Davydenko.

As Yuriy Ryzhenkov noted, currently the group’s steel enterprises in Ukraine are loaded by 60-70%, mining and prossecing plants – by 35-40%. He also answered the question of the current situation of the company, not only amid reduced capacities, but also the possibility of new risks – shelling, power outages, etc.

«Even under today’s conditions, we generate a positive cash flow, so we are able to work with our creditors and investors, and even make some investments. These are not global investments from the point of view of strategic development, but local investments for the improvement of our enterprises,» said Yuriy Ryzhenkov.

According to the CEO of Metinvest, the group’s foreign enterprises are 100% loaded, while the company’s Ukrainian assets generate most of the financial results.

«It is less than it was two years ago, but the lion’s share of the profit is generated in Ukraine,» he said.

According to the CEO of the company, the period since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation has become difficult for Ukrainian heavy industry. In particular, the usual logistics chains developed in the past were disrupted. Access to the Black Sea ports was lost for most cargoes, they were redirected to the railway, while European border crossings were not ready for such volumes.

Despite the significant impact of the force majeure of a full-scale war on the group’s business, at the end of April 2023, Metinvest repaid the 2023 bonds on time and in full

«Metinvest is not only a Ukrainian company, we have foreign enterprises (plants in Europe, the USA). Therefore, we cannot simply come out and tell our investors that if everything is bad in Ukraine, we will stop all our payments. It will be wrong from the point of view of the attitude towards the investors and from the point of view of the financial markets,» Yuriy Ryzhenkov noted.

According to him, the company will continue to service its debts and obligations to investors in the near future. As for further development opportunities, the group has plans for investments in European assets and M&A.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Metinvest, taking into account associated companies and joint ventures, in January-March 2023 transferred to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine over UAH 2.5 billion in taxes and fees. In particular, during January-March 2023, the Ukrainian enterprises of the group paid about UAH 725 million in single social contribution (EUS), over UAH 649 million in personal income tax and about UAH 442 million in income tax.

Also, Metinvest group replaced Russian steel coil suppliers who left the markets of the European Union countries due to sanctions, said the company’s operations director Oleksandr Myronenko.