…But the biggest impact is expected from Metinvest, ranked 28th in the world in steel production and number one in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Owned by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, the group controls half of national steel output, churning out more than 14m tonnes in 2012 at four domestic mills. Steel is also rolled at its UK, Italian and Bulgarian plants.
Metinvest is closing open-hearth furnaces and introducing the more energy-efficient technique of pulverised-coal injection. This, in turn, spells fewer sales for Gazprom and more energy efficiency for Ukraine’s economy overall.