Friday, 06 July 2012 00:00

Written by Charles Okonji

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Serhii Khanenko, has said that in investors from Ukraine were ready to inject $2.6 billion (about N421 billion) to reactivate the Ajaokuta Steel Company.

Khanenko, who stated when he led a delegation of investors from his country to visit the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Sada, said: |The purpose of their visit is to explore areas of partnership with the Nigerian government in the development of its solid mineral resources.”
Khanenko expressed hope that the project would be given to the Ukrainian government.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, in his response, said the Federal Government was poised to remove the bottlenecks in the privatisation of the steel industry.

Sada stated that President Goodluck Jonathan had given timelines on all outstanding issues affecting the nation’s steel industry, to ensure that it is moved forward.
He added that Ajaokuta Steel Company and National Iron Ore Mining Company were being handled as integrated plants that must work together for optimum benefits.
According to him, government was working to ensure that the interests of various stakeholders were represented, to ensure that Nigeria’s steel industry was developed.

He said: “The present administration is determined to tackle all critical issues impeding the successful privatisation of the nation’s steel industry. We need a clearer business model for the project, including cash flow.”
Sada pointed out that the previous attempts to privatise the steel industry failed due to a lack of proper input from the ministries and other stakeholders.
President, Ukrainian National Foreign Economic Corporation, Yergency Kazik, said they were ready to reactivate Ajaokuta Steel Company to its optimum level.
He invited the minister and his management team to visit Ukraine to assess the operations of their companies.