The Polish infrastructure is too small for Ukrainian business and cannot replace the blocking of ports in the Black Sea by the aggressor, Dmytro Nikolayenko, commercial director of Metinvest, said in an interview with the Polish business publication WNP.PL.

The commercial director of the company noted that the metallurgical and mining industry of Ukraine was previously export-oriented: the country exported 80% of metal products and iron ore raw materials. All logistical routes, including the railroad and ports, could handle it.

At the same time, he recalled that Metinvest's business has an international dimension. As an international mining and metallurgical group, the company has production facilities not only in Ukraine, but also in Bulgaria, Italy, the UK and the USA, has an extensive sales and distribution network - its products are sold in 95 countries. In addition, Metinvest has 20 offices around the world.

"We exported products mainly through the Black Sea ports, such as Pivdenny, which is able to receive the largest capesize class merchant ships, as well as through the ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv. We sent cargo around the world from the Mariupol metallurgical plants Azovstal and Illich Steel Mill. Particularly noteworthy is the sea line from Mariupol to Italy, where our goods were shipped to the rolling mill. Container ships regularly transported slabs (semi-finished metal products) to Italy and the UK. We also sent products from Ukrainian rolling mills to our plant in Bulgaria. It was transported along the Dnipro River, and then along the Black Sea to the Bulgarian port of Burgas," the top manager explained.

He noted that the logistics component was well organized in the group, customers were provided with good service in terms of predictable delivery times. The company hired a number of vessels under various forms of charter contracts, such as bareboat (a vessel without a crew) and time charter (a vessel hired with a crew).

However, the full-scale war directly affected the group and its vertical integration. Metinvest was forced to stop production in Mariupol, then operational control over the Mariupol enterprises was completely lost.