Ukraine is seeking up to $40 billion to rebuild its economy, which includes the development of a coal-free steel industry, a senior Ukrainian official has said.
As reported by Reuters, Rostyslav Shurma, a deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office stated that the first focus for investments would be the iron and steel industry- a sector that contributed around 10% of Ukrainian GDP in 2021, a third of export revenues and employed around 600,000 people.
It also accounted for 15% of the country's carbon emissions- which Shurma said highlighted the opportunity to build an industry driven by renewable energy.
"If you have to rebuild, it is logical to rebuild green in line with new technologies ... Our vision is to build a 50Mt green steel industry in Ukraine."
Rostyslav Shurma, a deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office
"If you have to rebuild, it is logical to rebuild green in line with new technologies ... Our vision is to build a 50Mt green steel industry in Ukraine," he said.
Doing so, says Reuters, would allow the country to become the world's cheapest supplier of 'green' steel, and a major support to Europe's efforts to decarbonize, driven by an investment push in new wind, solar, nuclear and hydro power.
To help raise $20 billion to $40 billion in initial funding, Ukraine plans a coalition of industry, public and private sector stakeholders to develop the plan, including doing initial scoping work on projects.
Preparatory work would likely take one to one and a half years, although ‘to be realistic, actual construction will start only after the war’ is over, Shurma added.
Source: Reuters