MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. Western media speculations that Ukraine has lost its steel industry may be exaggerated, yet the damage sustained by the sector is likely to deal a heavy blow to foreign currency and tax revenues, Vasily Prozorov, a former officer of the Ukrainian security service SBU and founder of the UkrLeaks investigation center has told TASS.

"I do not think that 100% of production capacity has been knocked out. But in any case, there has been a heavy blow, primarily to the state economy, since the ferrous metallurgy sector used to generate a hefty portion of foreign currency earnings. Ukraine exported rolled metal products - a very significant source of foreign currency influx," Prozorov said.

He added that the Financial Times’ claim regarding the total collapse of the industry might be exaggerated somewhat.

Earlier, citing Alexander Vodovoz, chief of staff to the CEO of the Metinvest Group, the Financial Times reported that Ukraine had effectively lost its steel industry.

On September 12, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had hit the Krivoi Rog combine, which produced "metal products for the manufacture of weaponry and military hardware." Furthermore, since the beginning of the month, Ukrainian media have reported numerous explosions at industrial facilities in the city.