KYIV, Jan 26 – Ukrainian industry will play a central role in the country’s postwar recovery, which is set to be successful thanks to strong fundamentals and the resilience of the Ukrainian people, said Luca Zanotti, CEO of pipe and wheel producer Interpipe, speaking at the Ukraine House Davos panel discussion “From Resilience to Recovery: What It Takes to Succeed in Rebuilding Ukraine?”

“I am deeply convinced that it is domestic industry that will play the key role in the recovery, which will undoubtedly be successful, because Ukraine has all the essential basic prerequisites for this,” Zanotti said, citing the country’s resource base, energy independence, nuclear power generation and social resilience.

According to him, Interpipe’s approach to resilience rests on people, entrepreneurship and investment. At the Nikopol pipe plant, employees continue working just 4.5 km from the front line despite extraordinary challenges. Since the start of the war, the company has diversified its product portfolio and export markets and invested more than $100 million in production, including at the Nikopol site.

Zanotti separately highlighted steps taken by the Ukrainian government, including the ban on scrap metal exports.

“These measures are aimed at creating added value inside the country rather than exporting raw materials,” he said.

At the macro level, Interpipe is now on par with leading global peers in terms of CO₂ emissions, a result of a $1 billion strategic investment in the decarbonisation of steel production, Zanotti added.

He also stressed the importance of Ukraine’s rapid accession to the European Union, saying membership would open a “second home market” for Ukrainian producers and become a powerful driver of economic recovery.

Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial group producing steel pipes and railway products, supplying more than 50 countries through sales offices in the Middle East, North America and Europe. In 2024, the company paid UAH 5.5 billion in taxes to budgets at all levels.

Its industrial assets include Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky Tube Rolling Plant, Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant, Interpipe Niko Tube, Dnipropetrovsk Vtormet and the Dniprosteel electric steelmaking complex operating under the Interpipe Steel brand. The company employs around 9,500 people.

Interpipe Limited is ultimately owned by Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and members of his family. (om/ez)