Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register KYIV, APRIL 16 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s richest man has pledged to help rebuild the besieged city of Mariupol, a place near his heart where he has two huge steel mills that he says will once again compete globally. Rinat Akhmetov has seen his business empire collapse after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, but remains provocative, confident that what he calls “our brave soldiers” will defend the seven-week-old desert city of the Azov Sea. For now, however, Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steelmaker, has said it can not deliver on supply contracts, and while SCM ‘s financial and industrial group is meeting its obligations, private electricity producer DTEK has “optimized”. payment of its debts “agreement with creditors. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Mariupol is a global tragedy and a global example of heroism. For me, Mariupol has always been and will always be a Ukrainian city,” Akhmetov told Reuters in response to written questions. “I believe that our brave soldiers will defend the city, although I understand how difficult and difficult it is for them,” he said, adding that he was in daily contact with Metinvest executives who run the Azovstal and Illich Iron and Steel Works plants in Mariupol. . On Friday, Metinvest said it would never operate under Russian occupation and that the siege of Mariupol had deactivated more than a third of Ukraine’s metallurgical capacity. read more Akhmetov praised President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s “passion and professionalism” during the war, seemingly normalizing relations after the Ukrainian leader said last year that conspirators hoping to overthrow his government had tried to implicate the businessman. Akhmetov called the allegation an “absolute lie” at the time. “And war is definitely not the time for confrontation … We will rebuild the whole of Ukraine,” he said, adding that he returned to the country on February 23 and has been there ever since. “A MARSHAL PLAN FOR UKRAINE” Akhmetov did not say exactly where he was, but that he was in Mariupol on February 16, the day some Western intelligence services were waiting for the invasion to begin. “I talked to people in the streets, I met with workers …”, he said. “My ambition is to return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and implement our (new production) plans, so that the steel produced in Mariupol can compete in world markets as before.” Russia invaded on February 24 when President Vladimir Putin announced a “special operation” to demilitarize and “denationalize” the country. Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss it as a false pretext for an unprovoked attack. Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man by far, has seen his business empire shrink since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Black Sea peninsula and two parts of eastern Ukraine – Donetsk and Luhansk – Independent from Kyiv. According to Forbes magazine, Akhmetov’s net worth in 2013 reached $ 15.4 billion. It currently stands at $ 3.9 billion. “For us, war broke out in 2014. We lost all our assets in both the Crimea and the temporarily occupied Donbass region. We lost our businesses, but it made us tougher and stronger,” he said. “I am confident that, as the largest private company in the country, SCM will play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,” he said, citing officials as saying the damage from the war had reached $ 1 trillion. “We will definitely need an unprecedented international reconstruction program, a Marshall Plan for Ukraine,” he said, referring to the US aid program that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War II. “I believe that we will all rebuild a free, European, democratic and prosperous Ukraine after our victory in this war.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Elizabeth Piper. curated by John Stonestreet Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
title: “Ukraine S Richest Man Vows To Rebuild Besieged Mariupol " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-22” author: “Gary Vincent”
For now, however, Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steelmaker, has said it can not deliver on supply contracts, and while SCM ‘s financial and industrial group is meeting its obligations, private power company DTEK “has optimize the payment of its debts “agreement with creditors. “Mariupol is a global tragedy and a global example of heroism. For me, Mariupol has always been and will always be a Ukrainian city,” Akhmetov told Reuters in response to written questions. “I believe that our brave soldiers will defend the city, although I understand how difficult and difficult it is for them,” he said, adding that he was in daily contact with Metinvest executives who run the Azovstal and Illich Iron and Steel Works plants in Mariupol. . On Friday, Metinvest said it would never operate under Russian occupation and that the siege of Mariupol had deactivated more than a third of Ukraine’s metallurgical capacity. Akhmetov praised President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “passion and professionalism” during the war, which’s seemingly normalized relations after the Ukrainian leader said last year that conspirators hoping to overthrow his government had tried to implicate him. Akhmetov called the allegation an “absolute lie” at the time. “And war is definitely not the time for confrontation … We will rebuild the whole of Ukraine,” he said, adding that he returned to the country on February 23 and has been there ever since.
“Marshall Plan for Ukraine”
Akhmetov did not say exactly where he was, but that he was in Mariupol on February 16, the day some Western intelligence services were waiting for the invasion to begin. “I talked to people in the streets, I met with workers …”, he said. “My ambition is to return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and implement our (new production) plans, so that the steel produced in Mariupol can compete in world markets as before.” Russia invaded on February 24 when President Vladimir Putin announced a “special operation” to demilitarize and “denationalize” the country. Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss it as a false pretext for an unprovoked attack. Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man by far, has seen his business empire shrink since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Black Sea peninsula and two parts of eastern Ukraine – Donetsk and Luhansk – by Kyiv. According to Forbes magazine, Akhmetov’s net worth in 2013 reached $ 15.4 billion. It currently stands at $ 3.9 billion. “For us, war broke out in 2014. We lost all our assets in both the Crimea and the temporarily occupied Donbass region. We lost our businesses, but it made us tougher and stronger,” he said. “I am confident that, as the largest private company in the country, SCM will play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,” he said, citing officials as saying the damage from the war had reached $ 1 trillion. “We will definitely need an unprecedented international reconstruction program, a Marshall Plan for Ukraine,” he said, referring to the US aid program that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War II. “I believe that we will all rebuild a free, European, democratic and prosperous Ukraine after our victory in this war.”
