ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia have signed a protocol to restore and modernize the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) in Karachi, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
The development comes days after the two sides discussed plans to modernize the major steel complex and expand industrial cooperation on the sidelines of the INNOPROM Annual Industrial Forum in Yekaterinburg.
INNOPROM, Russia’s largest annual industrial trade fair, brings together government delegations, business leaders and technology firms from over 30 countries to explore partnerships in manufacturing, engineering and high-tech industries.
The protocol was signed at the Pakistan Embassy in Moscow by Pakistan’s Secretary of Industries and Production Saif Anjum and Russian General Director of Industrial Engineering LLC Vadim Velichko, reaffirming the long-standing industrial partnership.
“The project aims to restart and expand steel production [in Pakistan], marking a new chapter in bilateral cooperation,” read a report on Radio Pakistan broadcaster.
The PSM, once Pakistan’s flagship industrial complex, was built in the 1970s with Soviet assistance. While it symbolized national self-sufficiency, the mill has been non-operational since 2015 due to years of financial mismanagement, political interference and mounting losses.
Moscow is also expected to finalize an agreement with Islamabad this summer to construct a new steel mill in Karachi, Russian Consul-General Andrey B. Fedorov told Arab News this month.
Technical experts from Russia have already inspected the proposed site for the new facility, and another delegation is expected soon to draft a detailed roadmap.
Russia has a long history of industrial cooperation with Pakistan, having previously built key infrastructure projects such as the Guddu Power Station in Sindh in the 1980s, one of the country’s major electricity producers.
Moscow and Islamabad have expanded cooperation in recent years despite global tensions over the war in Ukraine.
