The mining-metallurgical complex, even despite the crisis, is one of the key engines of Ukrainian economy with 15 billion UAH of taxes and around 1 million employees.
But increasing ore mining taxes, expensive gas and high port duties have decreased steel output by 16%. And all this could make the companies stop their operation.
“The stop of even 1 company can be a serious social problem, as each company employs some 10 thousand people”, says the chairman of the Federation of Ukrainian Metal Makers Sergey Belenky, adding that it would be very difficult to find jobs for such a number of people if a company stops working.
Metal makers are also the leaders in getting currency, as Ukraine exports around 90% of its metal.
“If the mining-metallurgical complex halts or considerably decreases output, the National Bank will feel the imbalance of currency flow”, believes Metallurgprom president Alexander Kalenkov.
The experts are sure that the economy development will increase local metal demand. (Ukrainian metal)