Inside Oligarchs versus Outside India: technical (non)progress and environmental effects in Post-Soviet Steel

Abstract

The recent case of the Ilva Steelworks in Italy demonstrates that outdated technology in steel production can persist and respective environmental damage can occur if economic and political interests that stick to an overcome developmental model collude. Steel played also a prominent role for economic development of the Soviet Union, but over decades under the plan mechanism a pronounced technological backwardness of the sector evolved. Despite privatization, trade liberalization and rising prices for input goods since transition, backwardness persists till now and environmental damage caused by the sector is a serious concern. Our article examines technical (non)progress in the steel sector of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan and looks at the explanatory factors for backwardness, with a special focus on ownership. To overcome the locked-in situation, we propose that EU anti-dumping investigations and trade agreements should take into account a broader range of potential subsidies and include environmental factors alike.