The Azovstal steelworks, owned by Rinat Akhmetov, was heavily damaged by Russian bombardment after the sprawling plant became the last bastion of defense Ukrainian
Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov (Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov said he plans to sue Russia for losses of between 17,000 and 20,000 million dollars caused by the bombing of steel plantsowns in the devastated city of Mariupol.
The Azovstal steelworks was heavily damaged by Russian bombardment after the sprawling plant became the last bastion of defense in the southern city port. Illich Steel and Iron Works, also owned by Akhmetov, was heavily damaged during the Russian bombardment of Mariupol.
“We will definitely sue Russia and demand proper compensation for all losses and lost business,” Akhmetov, owner of Ukraine’s largest steelmaker Metinvest, told Ukrainian news portal mrpl.city in an interview.
When asked how much money Metinvest had lost due to the damage to Azovstal and Illich, he said: “The replacement cost (…) due to Russian aggression is 17 to 20 billion of dollarss. The final amount will be determined in a lawsuit against Russia.”
Billionaire Akhmetov had already seen his prewar business empire shattered by eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian separatists seized swathes of territory there.
Since the invasion of Russia on February 24, Metinvest has announced that it cannot fulfill its supply contracts. While Akhmetov’s financial and industrial group SCM is meeting its debt obligations, his private power producer DTEK has restructured its debt portfolio, he noted.
A view shows the destroyed facilities of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, May 22, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Pavel Klimov
Akhmetov said he had been in Ukraine since the war with Russia began, adding: “We believe in our country and we believe in our victory.”
On the other hand, Russia will analyze the possibility of exchanging prisoners with Ukraine after the detained Ukrainian fighters are triedRussian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko reported on Wednesday, quoted by Russian agencies.
“We will analyze all this after those who surrendered are tried and make judgments,” he said.
“Before this, discussions about a swap are premature,” he added.
Last week, the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic city of Mariupol, entrenched for weeks in the huge Azovstal steel mill, surrendered.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, more than 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers were captured.
The Ukrainian authorities want to organize an exchange of prisoners of war, but the Russian authorities consider that some of them, who belong to the Azov battalion, are neo-Nazi combatants guilty of war crimes and not military.
(With information n from Reuters)