When SVT calls the Västerås company's CEO, she tells them that they have looked at other options, but that in dialogue with players in the Swedish steel industry, they have chosen to complete the agreement with the supplier.
- There is no equivalent product on the market, says Catharina Lindgren, CEO of Carbomax AB.
Was it a difficult decision to choose the Russian coal?
- Of course, it was a tough decision that we made when the agreement was made, but there were no directly replaceable alternatives so soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Do you understand if the import is met with criticism and how do you think about it?
- We strongly distance ourselves from Russia's actions in Ukraine and have canceled all trade in materials of Russian origin, despite the fact that these materials are not yet subject to sanctions.
We do everything in our power to find alternative solutions so that our important customers can be satisfied with high-quality products.
Carbomax manufactures and supplies coal products to the steel industry around Northern Europe.
According to the application, Västeråsföretaget signed the agreement with the coal supplier in December 2021.
Kommerskollegium, the authority responsible for Swedish foreign trade, will review Carbomax's application.
The application is so far the only valid unloading of coal from Russia to Sweden since the sanctions were introduced.
Carola Alzén, CEO of Mälarhamnar, which operates the port in Västerås, tells SVT that they will manage the unloading of the coal just as usual if the application is approved.