The main challenges for Metinvest in 2025 – CEO

Metinvest Group sees the main challenges in 2025 as access to financing for modernization and green transition projects in the mining and metals sector, as well as ensuring stable demand for Ukrainian steel in the domestic market.

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, told Forbes Ukraine in an interview. He noted that these topics can be raised only when peace comes to Ukraine.

The CEO also named the main factors that will affect exports this year:

• Maintaining the competitiveness of Ukrainian producers in foreign markets.

“This requires, as I have already said, that state monopolies do not create additional tariff pressure on operating businesses,” emphasized Yuriy Ryzhenkov.

• Maintaining access to foreign markets

According to him, it is important to maintain the liberalization of steel trade with the EU, the US, and the UK and to strengthen sanctions against the Russian mining and metals industry, which continues to sell slabs and pig iron to the EU because of the position of certain countries.

• Consistent environmental and industrial policy of the state on eco-modernization and decarbonization

“Because of the war, we all need a delay for Ukraine to introduce the IAEA. And the confirmation of the criticality of booking and engaging veterans in the workforce will remain a relevant factor due to the risk of losing qualified personnel,” summarized Metinvest’s CEO.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Metinvest increased steel production by 4% year-on-year – to 2.099 million tons in 2024, while pig iron production increased by 3% year-on-year – to 1.82 million tons. The company produced 15.73 million tons of iron ore concentrate and 4.28 million tons of coal concentrate.