UMMC may invest 50-60 bln rubles in developing business in 2019 - head
YEKATERINBURG. July 8 (Interfax) - The Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) estimated that it invested a total of 50-60 billion rubles in 2018 and expects to invest the same in 2019, though a decrease of 10-15% is possible, the head of the company, Andrei Kozitsyn, told journalists on the sidelines of the forum Innoprom-2019.
"This will all depend on the budget, because the ruble is strengthening, copper prices are changing, and not upward. So in the context of the year, [the budget] may be corrected in the direction of optimizing expenses," Kozitsyn said, adding that a year-on-year decrease of 10-15% is possible.
The company is planning to carry out a "global reconstruction" of its businesses by 2022, he said.
"There will still be expenses related to mining and raw-material security. Renovation connected with mining is really huge money. We have a big pile from year to year - $500-600 million every year, and these are expenses that aren't going anywhere for the next 10-12 years," Kozitsyn said.
UMMC is one of Russia's leading producers of cathode copper, zinc, lead, and nonferrous metal rolled products. The company has more than 40 divisions located in various regions of the country.
UMMC's principal owners are Iskander Makhmudov and Andrei Kozitsyn.