KIEV, April 29 – Some Ukrainian metals companies could face great difficulties during the current economic crisis due to low prices of metals, shortages of their own raw material base and their large debt burden, according to Serhiy Haida, an analyst from Dragon Capital Investment Company.

"The large debt burden, in the light of the worsening of the situation on the steel market and the fall in the price of metal products, is a threat to some companies. According to our estimates, the debt of Donetsk-based Industrial Union of Donbas (IUD), which has actively upgraded its production facilities over the past few years, reached $3.3 billion by late 2008. The company is to pay $500 million this year," the expert said at the fourth conference "Steel in the CIS and Eastern Europe," which was held on April 27 and April 28 in Kiev, and organized by Metall-Kurier agency and Business-Forum Company.