We Will Build a New Steel Shop Regardless of the Steel Crisis

BUSINESS We Will Build a New Steel Shop Regardless of the Steel Crisis Pascal Genest, CEO and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Liberty Ostrava steelworks since December 2019, studied polytechnics (specializing in mathematics and science), is a civil engineer and holds an MBA. He has worked in the steel industry in various countries of the world for fourteen years and has been a decision-maker at many steelworks, being responsible for strategic development and the transformation of businesses. He was previously CEO at a leading steelwork company in the Middle East. He also has professional experience in the aluminium industry and private investments. on imported natural resources, lower CO2 emissions and enable greater flexibility by allowing us to switch or blend blast furnace and electric arc furnace steel-making. We are working hard to expedite and commission both furnaces by the end of 2022. The new steel shop investment will be accompanied by a major modernisation of the steel rolling mills to improve the quality of our products and increase our proportion of high added value products which are sought after in our natural markets. Last year you took over the management of one of the most important companies in the region. What is your vision for the development of the company? I want to make the Ostrava steelworks as competitive and efficient as possible. The investment of the past years mainly focused on reducing the environmental footprint with stateof-the-art technologies that have made the company one of the top performers in Europe in terms of environment. However, as far as the existing steelmaking manufacturing technologies are concerned, our technology has become inefficient. Therefore, as part of the strategic investment plan we announced in February, we have selected technologies that will improve that and will build a new steel shop based around two hybrid furnaces, which will enable us to utilise higher volumes of local steel scrap to reduce our reliance Your company invests in innovation and ecology. Will this continue to be the case and will you also cooperate with universities in the region? We remain ambitious for the future of the Ostrava steelworks in spite of the difficulties the global steelmaking market has been facing lately due to lower demand, falling prices, unfair cheap imports due to the very weak protection of the EU market and the recent COVID-19 lockdown measures. We look forward to serving our regional Central European steel market, working closely with our dedicated employees, as well as the Government, Trade Unions, and other stakeholders to deliver our ambitious plan for the plant’s long-term sustainability, aligned to our GREENSTEEL and carbon neutrality 2030 visions. The strategic investments in the new steelmaking technology and rolling mills is expected to reach €750 million over the next ten years, with a major part of that being invested in the next five years. We have been a strong, long-term supporter of technical education in this region as we want to foster future generations of steel workers. We have also worked for many years with the VSB – Technical university of Ostrava in research and development areas, which will now also include developing technologies and innovations associated with methanol production and CO2 capture and cleaning. We know about you that one of your first trips to relax led to the Jeseníky Mountains. What is your relationship to the nature, mountains and sports? I believe that the work-and-life balance is important to our lives. I like to spend my free time outdoors, playing sports like tennis in the summer or skiing in winter. Due to the lockdown I have had the opportunity to discover much of the beautiful countryside in the Moravian-Silesian Region. Ostrava and its surroundings offer many opportunities for sports and mountain tourism, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for the interview. Otázky připravil: Vít Ruprich Foto: archiv LIBERTY Ostrava a.s. www. libertyostrava.cz POSITIV 2/2020 ǀ 31