REUTERS
In recent years, Ukraine has consumed a mere 20% of the metal it produces, the expert said.
Director of the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Valeriy Heyets, says the Ukrainian government may stimulate the development of the steelmaking industry and significantly increase economic growth rates by investing in the country's infrastructure projects.
In recent years, Ukraine consumed a mere 20% of the metal it produced, he said at the presentation of the Memorandum of Employers of Ukraine on February 6.
The expert stressed that the acceleration of the economic growth rate is the most crucial issue for Ukraine.
"Already today, Ukraine's metal stock is worn out by 90%, according to experts. It's clear that, with an economic growth rate at 2-3%, the deterioration will accumulate and the level of comfort of life will no longer satisfy us," he said.
At the same time, the expert is sure that Ukraine has the opportunity to double its economic growth rate. To this end, it is necessary, besides investing in infrastructure projects, to focus on deeper processing of Ukrainian raw materials.
According to a Director of SE Ukrainian Industry Expertise, Volodymyr Vlasiuk, to stop infrastructure degradation and deindustrialization, Ukraine should annually consume 12-15 million tonnes of steel. "If we reach such consumption, it will be a signal of Ukraine's development. We will achieve this figure if we follow an industrial development trend, which is associated with the reconstruction of infrastructure," he said in December last year.
Vlasiuk noted with regret that Ukrainian Industry Expertise assessed the necessary consumption volumes at 12-15 million tonnes 15 years ago. But since then the reconstruction of the extremely worn-out Ukrainian infrastructure had not begun. Noteworthy, programs to stimulate domestic consumption of steel are operating in 22 countries of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation. Egyptian authorities announced a program to build in 2018–2022 homes for the poor worth US$20 billion.