Saudi-Ukraine strong relations highlighted at Interpipe reception

RIYADH — Interpipe, global steel pipes and railway wheels producer, hosted a reception in partnership with the Ukrainian Embassy in Riyadh last Tuesday (Feb. 21), attended by key government officials and business representatives from the Kingdom. These included the Chairman of Al Shaye Group Saud Al Shaye, Chairman of Rassais Group and Head of Ukrainian-Saudi Business Council Sheikh Saad Al Rassais, Projects Manager of Al Arrab Contracting Company Moustafa Al-Moustafa, Managing Director of IMS Bassam Darraj, Managing Director of MAK Hazem Mikati, and Badr Al-Rajhi, Al-Rajhi family. The reception also provided guests with an opportunity to experience Ukrainian culture and to strengthen business ties between the two countries. Vadim Vakhrushev, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said: “There is a strong political and economic relationship between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, with a commodity turnover of around $700 million in 2016 alone. Steel products are one of the key export goods to the Kingdom. We support Ukrainian companies with international operations such as Interpipe in their efforts to strengthen their partnership with public and private organizations operating in Saudi Arabia. I hope that the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries in the steel industry but also across other sectors such as agriculture and aircraft engineering will continue growing.” Prior to the reception, Interpipe arranged a customer conference for its partners. With a quarter of its supply volume to the MENA region shipped to Saudi Arabia, the company considers the Kingdom as one of its priority markets. The mounting problem of trademark counterfeiting and its destructive impact on business climate in the region was one of the main topics discussed at the conference. Andrey Burtsev, Commercial Director for Middle East, Africa and Asia markets, Interpipe, said “a substantial amount of Interpipe’s sales in the GCC come from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we have been supplying for major construction projects in the country. Nevertheless, in recent years we have noticed unfair competition from fake steel producers. Products of doubtful quality have appeared in the market, which can be threatening for the safety of people and buildings.” “Interpipe is one of the key members of the ‘Steel Alliance Against Counterfeiting’. The Alliance adheres to the position that it is impermissible to put infrastructure under risk by using goods of inferior quality. The Alliance’s members act to protect all stakeholders from counterfeiting and business malpractice. We hope that the Interpipe trademark registration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the launch of our new customer services will help significantly towards achieving this goal,” he noted. — SG