Metalloinvest denies storing ore in “underground warehouses” in Ukraine

Metalloinvest called absurd the statement of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) that the company stores “Ukrainian ore” in “underground warehouses of Russia” in several Ukrainian ports. Iron ore, the arrest of which was reported by the SBU the day before, was mined in Russia and intended for foreign buyers, Metalloinvest claims.

“In February 2022, the Ukrainian authorities blocked the export shipment of these goods, which were in transit through the territory of Ukraine under existing contracts, in particular, to European consumers. Thus, we are talking in fact about the seizure of old commercial cargo intended for foreign buyers, ”the statement says. message companies. Metalloinvest emphasizes that the location of this cargo “was known to the Ukrainian authorities for almost a year.”

Yesterday, December 27, the SBU reported that “underground warehouses of Russia” were discovered in several ports of Ukraine, where there were more than 160 thousand tons of “Ukrainian iron ore” worth almost 2 billion hryvnias (about $54.35 million). The SBU said that the ore belongs to the company of Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, they were going to send it to Russia for use in the needs of the military-industrial complex.

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Olesya Pavlenko