OREANDA-NEWS. On March 12, 2009 the American magazine Forbes published a regular list of the wealthiest people on the planet. It ranked the major shareholder of SCM Rinat Akhmetov the 397th in the world and the 2nd in Ukraine. Experts of Forbes assessed the wealth of Rinat Akhmetov to the amount of US 1.8 billion, reported the press-centre of SCM.

We are positive about compilation and publication of such rankings by international and national media. Such rankings encourage interest of the investment community and the general public to development indicators of the Ukrainian business. Yet the information in any ranking, in our view, may not be considered as a precise assessment of the business value. Only the market can give the exact figures. Also, similar rankings reflect the trends in development of the economy as such and its individual industries, rather than the wealth of individuals and businesses.

In 2008, the global crisis influenced the growth of the Ukrainian economy, which affected, more or less, every industry including mining and metals - one of the vital areas for SCM Group and Ukraine.

However, the global downturn has not affected the long-term development strategy of SCM Group: we are still focused on long-term operations in strategically important for us sectors. A solid reserve and efficient business diversification help us meet the challenges, triggered by the global economic cool-down, and remain an effective and consolidated business in the new external environment.

We are focused today on efficient use of available resources and setting priorities with the most important of them being: to maintain high liquidity, be ready to change and keep looking for new development opportunities.