Currently, electricity prices in Ukraine are among the highest in Europe and the process of increasing them does not stop, which creates risks for the country's economy.
This was stated by Alexander Kalenkov, President of the Ukrmetallurgprom Enterprise Association, during a meeting of the Energy Committee of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine.
According to him, the high price of electricity is already encouraging the leadership of the largest investor in the Ukrainian economy, the metallurgical concern ArcelorMittal, to consider the option of leaving our country. This will be a negative signal for the market and may lead to the collapse of the basic sectors of the Ukrainian economy, in particular the mining and metallurgical complex, and cause a domino effect in related industries, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), Kalenkov is convinced.
The head of Ukrmetallurgprom noted that electricity tariffs in Ukraine are several times higher than in France, although both countries have approximately the same share of nuclear generation in the overall structure of the energy market.
"It is electricity prices that prevent the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih metal processing plant from producing more competitive products. This forces the management company ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg to consider withdrawing from Ukraine," Kalenkov said.
He added that the attempts of the National Commission for State Regulation in the fields of Energy and Utilities (NCREC) to raise price caps in the energy market twice more do not add arguments to the global investor in favor of staying in Krivoy Rog.
"If ArcelorMittal nevertheless leaves Ukraine due to rising electricity prices, it will be a very negative signal to all other companies! After all, ArcelorMittal is the largest foreign investor in the Ukrainian economy, which has invested $5-7 billion," Kalenkov recalled.
