‘It’s hard to speak about this or that company’s competitive advantages just now, because all businesses are going through hard times at the moment. Nevertheless, this crisis is bound to end sooner or later, and then, I am positive that MMK is going to have a great advantage over its rivals,’ British Petroleum’s Vice President for Russia and Kazakhstan and Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) BOD member Peter Charow announced at a press conference dedicated to the enterprise’s annual general meeting.

‘First of all, MMK is conveniently located in the Urals, where most of the demand for metallurgical produce is concentrated. Secondly, the enterprise manufactures a very wide range of products, including zinc- and polymer-coated goods (and, besides, Mill 5000 is on the way). Thirdly, MMK never borrowed money to buy assets abroad and is therefore in no great debt right now. So, I believe its profit and loss ratio is much more promising than that of its competitors. Finally, there is a number of other strong points like providing for its own energy supplies,’ he explained.