OREANDA-NEWS. The Board of Directors of Management Company METALLOINVEST today announced the appointment of Evgeny Maslov to the position of Managing Director of Ural Steel. Evgeny Maslov will combine the role of Managing Director with his responsibilities as Chief Engineer.

On assuming the role, Evgeny Maslov said: “I consider managing a plant such as Ural Steel as an extremely demanding challenge. My work as the plant's Chief Engineer, a role that I have occupied in recent years, has allowed me to learn about the unit's production process in detail and identify the strengths and weaknesses. At the end of last year, Metalloinvest developed an extensive programme to upgrade the plant's production processes, which will allow Ural Steel to increase its operational efficiency and become profitable. I see my main goal as achieving these objectives and maintaining the plant's highly-professional team.

Metalloinvest's management is confident that Evgeny Maslov's extensive production and leadership experience in the metallurgy industry and his deep knowledge of the technological processes of the plant will enable him to complete the large-scale tasks that the Company has set him.

Commenting of the appointment, Metalloinvest CEO Andrey Varichev remarked: “Ural Steel currently has challenging targets - to significantly increase its operational efficiency and to break even in 2015. The successful implementation of the programme to restructure Ural Steel is necessary for the plant's future development. This year, there are plans to complete reconstruction work on the sixth coke-oven furnace, major maintenance work on the third blast furnace and the reconstruction of the fourth blast furnace. There are also plans in the future to modernise other sections and start producing new products. Evgeny Maslov has already worked at the plant for seven years, including two years as Chief Engineer, and knows the production process very well. We are confident that with the support of the professional team at Ural Steel he will achieve the set objectives and the unit will enter a new phase of development.”