and Russia’s moves to retaliate against them. For
Ukraine, the war itself is cutting off supplies.
“We want to give priority to the refugees,
people trying to move out of the war zone,
and humanitarian and military convoys,” said
Interpipe’s Houston-based chairman and former
CEO Fadi Hraibi.
The disruption of another Ukrainian industry
— the making of wiring harnesses used in cars
— is already hurting European automakers.
Ukraine has more than 30 automotive plants,
most of them centered near the western border
with Poland and other European neighbors,
according to a government agency that
promotes foreign investment.
German parts supplier Leoni said production
has been interrupted at its two western Ukraine
plants in Styri and Kolomyja and that it’s looking
for temporary alternatives. “We are aware that
this situation is currently affecting not only
Leoni, but the entire industry,” said spokesperson
Gregor le Claire.
Ukraine is also among the world’s largest
suppliers of neon, a gas used in lasers that help
etch integrated circuits onto computer chips. That
worries auto industry executives, who fear that
tight neon supplies could worsen a global chip
shortage that has already forced production cuts
and made vehicles scarce worldwide.
Interpipe has five factories in Ukraine, all
located in the industrial hub of Dnipro and
its surrounding oblast, or region, which holds
a strategic position on the Dnieper River
southeast of the capital, Kyiv.