the investment is worth 2.3 billion – Corriere.it

Between geopolitics and industry. Metinvest, the Ukrainian steel giant has dissolved its reservations and announced its intention to build a plant in Italy for the production of green steel in partnership with Danieli of Buttrio, in the province of Udine. The investment, according to initial indications, is worth 2.3 billion euros. The goal is to support production dedicated to post-war reconstruction in Ukraine, but by creating a cutting-edge plant in green technologies, supplied by the multinational led by Gianpietro Benedetti, with cutting-edge features by European and Western standards.

Metinvest owns Azovstal, the factory where the battle for Mariupol took place arose in Soviet times, in an area that today Kiev does not control. The group, among the top 50 in the world according to the World Steel Association, is controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, a banker, businessman, publisher and owner of the Shakhtar Donetsk football club. Originally from Donetsk, born in 1966, of Tatar ethnicity, Sunni Muslim, Akhmetov, in the current meaning a former oligarch who has forever denied this label. he was also the protagonist of a remote duel, preceding the conflict, with Volodymyr Zelensky who had accused him of plotting against the state. But it seems water under the bridge: just a year ago the tycoon announced the step back from TV and newspapers with which the president had fought. Now the new turning point: the billionaire investment, outside the country, to prepare the reconstruction.

Far from unknown in Italy, Metinvest has owned and managed two re-rolling plants for over 15 years, recalls the note announcing the new step, Trametal of Genoa and Ferriera Valsider of Verona. more, Metinvest steel was used for the reconstruction of the Morandi, today Ponte Genova San Giorgio. From one San Giorgio to the next, for months the local news has been recording indiscretions and some controversy about the site chosen for the new plant, which should precisely be Porto Nogaro, a commercial port in the municipality of San Giorgio Nogaro, in the province of Udine. The Region led by Massimiliano Fedriga has already allocated the first 20 million for the reclamation of the site. There was talk of Ravenna and the Ukrainians also looked at Piombino, but above all they excluded Bulgaria where they have a settlement. The skilful direction of the Danieli group is evident, which was born and still thrives just a few kilometers away, with revenues close to 4 billion. A joint venture will be born, but the project is in progress, as shares and financial partners, perhaps including Cdp and Invitalia.