KIEV, April 1 – Zaporizhstal, part of Metinvest Group, faces an acute shortage of raw materials for production due to hostilities in Donbas, Zaporizhstal Director General Rostyslav Shurma said.

He said that the Ukrainian metal sector is working under very difficult conditions.

"Over the past six or nine months the prices of our products fell by over 40%. The whole economy of the country is in hardship, and it is not difficult to imagine in what situation metal companies have faced. Each day our employees face new problems. For example, in winter there was a permanent threat of blackouts, while the steel works with its sophisticated physical and chemical processes can be disconnected from power by one move of a circuit breaker," he said.