The Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria, Valeriy Aleksandruk, has disclosed that his
country is ready to invest $1 billion into the Ajaokuta Steel Company in order to revive
the plant, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said in a statement yesterday.
The Ambassador, who made this known in Abuja on Wednesday, during a courtesy call
on the acting director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr Vincent
Onome Akpotaire, said that the Ukrainian company that built the plant -Tiajpromexport
(TPE) – has presented a proposal to the federal government to that effect.
He said that the steel complex has a lot of potential which his country want to take
advantage of; and that already, meetings have been held with relevant stakeholders in
Nigeria for the realisation of the planned takeover of the plant.
Aleksandruk said that Ukraine has a very good relationship with Nigeria, especially with
economic and trade investments, while noting that there is a big Nigerian community in
Ukraine. The Ambassador further noted that Ukraine is ready to “open a new page in its
relationship with Nigeria” and pledged to assist the bureau in its training needs to
become a foremost privatisation agency in Africa.
In his response, Akpotaire said that the bureau would review the proposals from the
Ukrainian Government and the multinational financial services firm that would provide the
$1 billion investment, Morgan Stanley, before taking the next steps. He added that the
federal government is desirous to get the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the
Nigerian Iron Ore Mill Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe running.
Akpotaire urged the Ukrainian Government to invest in other sectors of the Nigerian
economy, especially in developing the downstream of the steel sector that would
service several sectors, including the automobile
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