Ukrainian industry to play key role in postwar recovery – Interpipe CEO
Ukrainian industry will play a central role in postwar recovery, and the reconstruction itself will be successful, as the country has all the necessary fundamental prerequisites for this, along with the incredible resilience of the Ukrainian people, said Luca Zanotti, CEO of pipe and wheel company Interpipe, during the panel discussion "From Resilience to Recovery: What It Takes to Succeed in Rebuilding Ukraine?" at Ukraine House Davos.
"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," he said, noting Ukraine's strong resource potential, its energy independence, nuclear power generation, and the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people.
According to Zanotti, at Interpipe the key principles of resilience are people, entrepreneurship, and investment. At the Nikopol pipe plant, employees continue to work just 4.5 kilometers from the front line despite extraordinary challenges. Since the start of the war, the company has successfully diversified its product portfolio and sales markets. At the same time, it has invested more than $100 million in production, including at the Nikopol site.
The company's CEO separately highlighted the correct steps taken by the Ukrainian government, in particular the ban on scrap metal exports.
"These measures are aimed at creating added value inside the country rather than exporting raw materials," Zanotti said.
He added that at the macro level, Interpipe is in the same league as leading global companies with the best CO₂ emissions indicators. This achievement was made possible by a strategic investment of $1 billion in the decarbonization of steel production.
"At the same time, a critically important factor is Ukraine's rapid accession to the European Union. Membership in this economic bloc will open up a 'second home market' for us and will become a powerful driver of the country's recovery," Zanotti concluded.
Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company and a manufacturer of steel pipes and railway products. Its products are supplied to more than 50 countries worldwide through a network of sales offices located in key markets in the Middle East, North America, and Europe. In 2024, the company paid UAH 5.5 billion in taxes to budgets at all levels.
The company's structure includes five industrial assets: 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 a total of around 9,500 people.
The ultimate owner of Interpipe Limited is Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and members of his family.
