The European Union has to eliminate all the loopholes for the import of Russian semi-finished steel products, that have remained after the introduction of sanctions, as soon as possible, as Russia is using its resources to control, attack and make dependant on its will.
“Now nothing prevents Russia from using its semi-finished products as a weapon, as it understands that Europe is dependent on them. This is one of the reasons why Europe must minimize imports as much as possible,” Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group, said at the Siderweb 2024 forum held on September 26 in Vicenza, Italy.
Another reason to stop Russian import is financing Russian military aggression by buying its products.
“Each time you buy Russian slabs, pig iron or HBI you finance war against Ukraine. Each euro, that you pay, is spent to kill another Ukrainian,” he added.
The third reason is subsidizing the imports of semi-finished products by Russian energy companies that sell gas to metal makers inside the country cheaper than in Europe.
“So, this is a very subsidized product. You kill European civilians,” Ryzhenkov said.
Metinvest is not buying Russian slabs for its European rolling mills – thus it helps the Italian economy revive one of the largest metal assets, which is now in a very difficult situation.
“Had all the other manufacturers acted like that, perhaps, it would have been easier to build a new steel industry in Italy,” he said. (Ukrainian metal)