The cold-drawing process is widely used for the strengthening of wires made of pearlitic steels for reinforced-concrete structures. Then the steels undergo plastic deformation and the amount of defects increases. This could worsen their corrosion resistance. In our work, the effect of cold drawing on the electrochemical behavior of pearlitic steel in alkali and neutral environments is investigated. Under passivation conditions in the environment with рН 12.5, the changes in the properties of steel are not recorded. The decrease in polarization resistance and, therefore, the acceleration of corrosion as a result of the treatment of steel is observed only in the vicinity of the corrosion potential in a 3% NaCl solution.Prestressing steel wires are widely used in reinforced concrete. The formation of protective scales on wires in alkali concrete pore solutions and their properties depend on various factors, such as the composition and pH of solutions, their temperature, surface state, etc. The local depassivation of prestressing wires makes possible the start of the corrosion process in pits, which later can progress to the general corrosion. As a result, the effective cross-section of wires decreases and the cohesion between a wire and a concrete matrix weakens. The accumulation of corrosion products (iron oxides and hydroxides) occupying a volume several times larger than the volume of the original iron [1] leads to the formation of internal stresses which results in cracking and spalling of the concrete cover [2]. It was shown [3] that the increase in the volume of the rust product associated with the reduction in the diameter of reinforcement (as small as 10-50 µm) may result in the initiation of cracks in concrete.Moreover, the degradation in wires may occur in the course of the long-term service, by analogy with the other steels [4,5], as a result of simultaneous action of the working stresses and the aggressive components of the surrounding environment (pore solutions in concrete). Thus, at appropriate potentials, chloride ions may induce local breakdown of the passive films formed in the pH 12.5 environments, and the pH value inside the pit may, therefore, fall down to low values because of hydrolysis [6]. The fractographic analysis of the fracture surfaces of corroded prestressing wires shows that the brittle regions with cleavage appearance may form only as a result of the action of hydrogen at the crack tip [7]. The occurrence of hydrogen is possible due to the presence of free chlorides and the corrosion reaction, which provides the electrons required for the transformation of H + ions into atomic hydrogen, which then migrates into the crystal lattice of the metal.Under the same environmental conditions, the corrosion resistance of the metal itself becomes very important. The cold-drawing process noticeably changes the initial material and, finally, we obtain a material with different mechanical properties.It is important to clarify the influence of the cold-drawing process on the corrosion activity and ...