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Bracing for War — Part One
At the center of the growing conflict in Ukraine is one of the largest integrated mining and steel production facilities in the world — ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih. It is a manufacturing colossus that is desperately coveted by two of the most powerful oligarchs in the world — Vladimir Putin and Ihor Kolomoisky.
For Russia’s President Putin, a violent conflict in Ukraine holds the promise of intense personal redemption. It is a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to reclaim a lost economic treasure, strengthen national pride, and reassert Russia’s geopolitical power on the world stage. For Kolomoisky — one of Ukraine’s most influential oligarchs — the nationalization of ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih offers a simple Machiavellian opportunity; there is immense personal profit and power to be realized through the clandestine control of government authority.
For the ArcelorMittal Group, the international conglomerate caught in the middle of this epic turf war, the ensuing power struggle has threatened to undermine their business and ruin their reputation. Recent tax hikes and compliance investigations by the Ukrainian SBU — a counter-intelligence agency, not a bureaucratic revenue service like the IRS — signify a growing effort by Kolomoisky to soften up ArcelorMittal for a government takeover.
