After a business trip to Pittsburg, Slovak Finance Minister and former PM, Igor Matovič, unveiled a €1.5 billion plan to decarbonise Slovakia’s U.S. Steel Košice steel mill, which aims to reduce the steelwork’s emissions by 80%.
“There’s no other way to help U.S. Steel Košice, than to decarbonise,” Matovič said, stressing that the steel mill is vitally important for the country’s eastern region.
The endeavour would mean replacing the carbon fueled blast furnaces with electrical ones. According to Matovič, it is appropriate to discuss whether the steel mill’s costly decarbonisation should receive assistance from the recovery fund, from which Slovakia is set to receive €6 billion.
Matovič noted that no decision has yet been made. However, he predicted that if neither the state nor the company picked up the bill, steel production in eastern Slovakia would probably cease to exist.
U.S. Steel Košice is one of the nation’s biggest employers, with over 10,000 workers as of 2019.
