Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Metinvest Group has sent more than 3.1 billion hryvnias to help the country, of which more than 1.6 billion was transferred to the needs of the army as part of Rinat Akhmetov's Steel Front military initiative.
More about the company's initiatives, current projects and plans for 2023, said Metinvest Group CEO Yuri Ryzhenkov.
Metinvest Group has become a reliable support for Ukraine
2022 has become a serious challenge both for Metinvest and for the whole of Ukraine. However, the company, like every Ukrainian, proved that it can be relied upon in difficult times.
We have repeatedly proved that metallurgists, miners and miners can be relied upon in difficult times, that Metinvest can be the backbone of Ukraine. And now we continue to work where possible, fill the budgets of the country and regions, pay taxes, and provide people with jobs. – said Yuriy Ryzhenkov.
As part of the Steel Front of Rinat Akhmetov, the company supported the Ukrainian army. During the year of the war, Metinvest handed over to the army an unprecedented number of drones and body armor for domestic private business. Metinvest Group also launched the Save a Life humanitarian project.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have already received essential items, medicines and food kits. We equip shelters, help with prosthetics and psychological rehabilitation. We are ready to provide strong support in the future, and after the victory, to restore the country,” he added.
Economic front
Today, Metinvest's enterprises in Ukraine operate under the constant threat of enemy shelling. The Group's assets in Mariupol and Avdiivka were affected by the fighting, while Mariupol is temporarily occupied. In addition, Metinvest's work is negatively affected by logistical restrictions, power outages, rising production costs and falling prices for certain types of products. In addition, other enterprises of the Group operate with different levels of workload, taking into account security, logistics, energy, economic and other factors.
At the beginning of 2023, the Ukrainian government allowed the import of electricity from the EU, which made it possible to alleviate the situation with electricity shortages at the local level. Metinvest took advantage of this opportunity to purchase imported electricity for its own production needs, which allows it to increase electricity supply quotas (in the absence of emergency shutdowns). This had a positive effect on the work of the group. In particular, a gradual increase in the loading of the Group's iron ore assets in Kryvyi Rih to at least 30% of the pre-war level is expected, while maintaining a focus mainly on the production of pellets. Electricity imports have also provided more stable operation and product flexibility at Kametstal and the joint venture Zaporizhstal. Currently, two blast furnaces are in operation at each of the enterprises. In total, in 2022, Metinvest (including the joint venture) launched the production of 24 new types of products.
Pokrovskaya Coal Group is now operating at about 80% of its pre-war power. The construction of the 11th coal mining unit is underway. Coal is mined in four longwalls, and four more bruises are planned to be commissioned in 2023.
The most important task of business in wartime is to work together with the whole country for victory. Pay taxes, support the army and the economy, take care of people. In 2022, Ukrainian, associated and joint ventures of Rinat Akhmetov's SCM investment group paid UAH 73.2 billion in taxes and fees. Of this amount, UAH 20.5 billion of taxes and fees were transferred last year to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine by Metinvest Group, including associated companies and joint ventures.
Metinvest continues to fight against theft from Russia, which illegally exported more than 234,000 tons of the company's metal products from Mariupol. In particular, 16 enterprises of the Group have filed suits with the European Court of Human Rights against Russia for damage caused to property and property of the Group in Mariupol and other territories of Ukraine since February 24, 2022.
Army assistance
< p>From the first day of the war, Metinvest joined Rinat Akhmetov's Steel Front military initiative, which aims to protect the lives of defenders.
As part of the initiative, the Heart of Azovstal project was launched in February 2023. It provides support for the defenders of Mariupol and members of the families of the dead, prisoners and missing defenders of the combine-fortress. Rinat Akhmetov allocated UAH 1 billion for this.
During the year of the war, Metinvest became one of the largest private donors of the Ukrainian army. The defenders of the country received 25,000 helmets and more than 150,000 body armor from the company, so that every tenth body armor in the army was manufactured or purchased by Metinvest.
The group has established production of products for the protection of Ukraine. In addition to special steel for body armor, these are special mobile shelters for strengthening trenches, armored shields for operators of large-caliber weapons, anti-tank hedgehogs, spiked chains, minibastions, sapper cats for remote demining of territories and other things.
Metinvest shipped 123 mobile shelters. Since the beginning of the war, more than 80,000 anti-tank hedgehogs have been made from Metinvest steel.
And from hot-rolled sheet supplied by the sales company Metinvest-SMC, elements of rigid protection of equipment are made – off-road vehicles, medical vehicles, utility vehicles and other equipment operating in the shelling zone.
On its own and in cooperation with partners, Metinvest produces field stoves: about 5,000 of these products heat the military and residents of the front-line regions. The company also provides them with solid fuel, winter uniforms, thermal underwear and footwear. In particular, more than 7 thousand employees of the company serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received sets of warm clothes. About 12 million hryvnias have been allocated for this.
273 generators and multi-charging stations from Metinvest help Ukrainian intelligence officers and border guards keep in touch and charge walkie-talkies and phones.
In order to strengthen the defense capability of the Ukrainian army, the company has established a systematic supply of military equipment and equipment to the front. In particular, the defenders received 1.2 thousand drones. No private business supplies such a number of army drones.
Metinvest also sends medical supplies to the front. More than 31 thousand turnstiles and first-aid kits, other medical equipment and medicines help to save the lives of wounded soldiers. And in cooperation with the PULSE charitable foundation, the Group contributes to the development of tactical medicine in Ukraine. Metinvest allocated almost UAH 6.2 million to organize training for servicemen in the war zone.
Helping the community
To prevent a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Metinvest, in coordination with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, launched the Save a Life initiative. The project has already helped almost 425 thousand people and covers about 70 territorial communities. Food and hygiene kits for vulnerable segments of the population are delivered from Poland to Ukraine.
Also, “Saving Life” develops other areas of work. Together with the Prosthetics Support Project in Ukraine, the initiative returns to normal life the military and civilian victims of the war. Currently, 33 people who have undergone limb amputations are undergoing prosthetics and treatment at various stages.
In addition, “Save Life” helps women and children affected by the war to recover psychologically. Thanks to the implementation of the “Indestructible Mom” program jointly with the Masha Foundation, 140 people have already received help.
The charitable initiative of Metinvest and the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation also supports medical institutions. Ukrainian hospitals received medicines, equipment and consumables worth more than 240,000 euros.
Medical supplies are also delivered to hospitals in Zaporozhye, Krivoy Rog, Kamensky, Pokrovsk and Avdiivka under a separate program implemented by Metinvest and the Rinat Foundation Akhmetov. The total amount of assistance to doctors within the two projects is more than 175 million hryvnias. Also, the company's metallurgists have shipped more than 1,600 tons of medical oxygen to hospitals since the beginning of 2022.
Metinvest helps Ukrainians survive the cold. The company provides heating stoves, solid fuel, and chainsaws to the residents of Avdiivka. And employees of the Pokrovskaya Coal Group received coal for free. For the residents of the Pokrovsky community, the company also purchased five diesel power plants to power boiler houses during power outages. In total, 11 such power plants were purchased for the cities where Metinvest operates, and “Points of Invincibility” were also equipped, where there is always electricity, heat and the Internet. One of these points works in Kamenskoye.
The company is doing everything possible to keep its team. More than 6,000 places in temporary shelters have been arranged for IDP employees who evacuated to the territory controlled by Ukraine. IDP families are provided with food, hygiene products and basic necessities.
In addition, during the war, Metinvest helps Ukrainians find work and retrain them for blue-collar jobs. Since February 2022, the company has employed more than 6.2 thousand people, of which 1.6 thousand are from Mariupol and Avdiivka. The company provides material support to such employees through various compensations, social benefits, humanitarian aid and guaranteed earnings.
Currently, the Pokrovskaya Coal Group has an opportunity to receive decent wages, allowances and social bonuses – there are 652 vacancies open there. Jobs are offered to residents from all regions of Ukraine. In particular, 136 Kryvyi Rih residents have already started working at the enterprises.
At the same time, the professional training of a new generation of specialists in the MMC continues. To do this, in the fall of 2022, 442 students began their studies in modern engineering and technical specialties at Metinvest Polytechnic University. Education is free for Metinvest employees and their children.
The company also cares about the mental health of its employees and their families. For nine months of 2022, specialists from the psychological support service Metinvest Together! conducted more than 2500 individual and group consultations.
