Navigating challenges and opportunities in Ukraine’s steel industry amidst political turmoil and decarbonization initiatives

The study provides a comprehensive assessment of the Ukrainian steel industry, focusing on its historical significance, institutional institutional prerequisites, current potential, and prospects for sustainable development. The primary emphasis is on the importance of balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability, aligned with current global challenges, including political instability and decarbonization initiatives. We identify the milestones in the technological evolution of Ukraine’s metallurgical sector, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, particularly concerning environmental impact. Consequently, we analyse the conformity of the technological equipment in the Ukrainian steel industry with emerging green technological trends. At the same time, we explore the industry’s economic performance, including production volumes, export dynamics, technological shifts, and their effects on investments in the Ukrainian context. Our approach also includes a comparison of Ukraine’s experience, given the vulnerability of its economy, with that of other countries that are top-rated in achieving leadership in metallurgy greening and sustainability. The results reveal trends and correlations between industrial CO2 emissions and crude steel production volumes, showing that most decarbonization activities in the steel industry have been initiated in recent years, and their effects cannot be fully assessed at this time. Our conclusion emphasizes the importance of increasing institutional capacity of the government in coordination and implementation of decarbonization policies and the establishing of industry-business-society dialogue.