“The war has made us feel what it is like to lose what is most precious. But it has not forced us to give up. We have managed to rebuild our business to meet the challenging realities of today. We have set up supplies of equipment to the front line. We have organised systematic assistance for civilians. And we are already making plans to rebuild Ukraine after the victory. Metinvest’s team has been, is and will remain a reliable support for the country and its people. We are ready to overcome any challenges because we know who we are defending and what we are fighting for.”
Yuriy Ryzhenkov
CEO of Metinvest
Metinvest’s businesses are operating under the constant threat of enemy shelling. The Group’s assets in Mariupol and Avdiivka have been affected by enemy actions, and Mariupol is temporarily occupied. At the same time, the Group’s other businesses are operating at different levels of capacity utilisation, depending on safety, logistics, energy, economic and other factors.
Since the beginning of 2023, after the stabilisation of the electricity supply, Metinvest has gradually increased the utilisation of its mining assets in Kryvyi Rih to at least 30% of pre-war levels and maintained a focus on production of high-grade pellets and other products. In the second half of the year, the introduction of a Black Sea corridor in Ukraine has had a positive impact on the utilisation of the Group’s iron ore assets.
In addition, the beginning of electricity imports since January 2023 has ensured more stable operations and product range flexibility at Kamet Steel.
Zaporizhstal has started production of hot-rolled steel of the S235-275 J0-J2 and S355 J0-J2 grades that meets the requirements of the EN 10025-1 standard, which was produced at Ilyich Steel in Mariupol before the full-scale invasion. The Group has undergone an inspection of its production process and an analysis of its technological capabilities, following which it has received a certificate of conformity for its production control system from the international certification authority Dedal.
Overall, in 2023, Metinvest’s steelmaking facilities (including the Zaporizhstal JV) launched 25 new products.
Pokrovske Coal is operating at a high level of utilisation. Construction of mine block no. 11 is underway and the facility is expected to be launched in 2025.
Metinvest’s priority is to take care of its employees. All enterprises have bomb shelters equipped to accommodate people for a long period of time. The shelters have water, food and medicines.
On 1 June 2023, Metinvest introduced an additional bonus for employees of its manufacturing and repair enterprises in Ukraine. The size of the bonus can reach 25% of an employee’s base salary or more, depending on the team’s performance.
The most important focus of business during wartime is to work together with the whole country to achieve victory. This includes paying taxes, supporting the defence forces and the economy, and taking care of people. In the first nine months of 2023, Metinvest, including its associates and joint ventures, paid over UAH11 billion in taxes and duties to budgets at all levels in Ukraine.
Metinvest continues to fight against theft by Russia, which has illegally removed more than 234,000 tonnes of its steel products from Mariupol. In particular, 27 of the Group’s companies have filed claims with the European Court of Human Rights against Russia for damages caused to Metinvest’s property and possessions in the city of Mariupol and other territories of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.
As part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front defence initiative, since the start of the full-scale invasion, Metinvest has provided around UAH2.5 billion in aid to the defenders of Ukraine and has become the largest private donor to the armed forces.
In 2022, the Group also started producing steel products for the front line. In particular, it established a technology for producing special steel for armour plates, which are the main components of body armour, and provides them to everyone who needs reliable protection. Metinvest has manufactured or purchased around 150,000 bulletproof vests and 25,000 helmets.
In addition, Metinvest has equipped 200 frontline vehicles with armour, as well as supplied more than 330 special mobile shelters to protect soldiers on the front line. Designed in-house, they can also serve as field accommodation.
The Group has also manufactured and supplied more than 250 pieces of fake military equipment for the armed forces of Ukraine, including fake howitzers and radar systems and even several fake HIMARS. They protect real equipment and force the enemy to waste their expensive resources on realistic-looking targets.
On the front line, the Group has provided 32 “lancet catchers”, engineered structures made of steel frames and camouflaged chain-link mesh, to protect armoured vehicles of Ukraine from Russian drones.
Around 70 mobile buggies have been manufactured for the military from steel supplied free of charge by Metinvest-SMC, a sales entity of the Group.
Metinvest has also produced more than 80,000 anti-tank hedgehogs and spiked chains, over 5,000 field stoves, 162,000 construction staples for defensive structures and other useful items.
To strengthen the defence capability of the armed forces of Ukraine, the Group has organised systematic supplies of equipment to the front lines. Defenders have already received over 1,500 surveillance drones.
In addition, the Group has delivered 2,000 units of high-precision thermal imagers, 450 backup power systems, 875 units of communication equipment, more than 520 vehicles for various purposes and 1.2 million litres of fuel to the Ukrainian defence forces.
At the same time, Metinvest has donated 10 high-speed boats, 12 trailers for their transportation and 800 self-inflating life jackets worth a total of UAH53 million to help the armed forces to resist the enemy on the water.
The lives of soldiers on the front line are protected by around 100 specialised ambulances, 31,500 first aid kits and haemostatic tourniquets provided by the Group. In addition, together with the PULSE charitable foundation, Metinvest is developing tactical medicine in Ukraine. The Group has spent almost UAH13 million on developing military training in the combat zone.
As part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative, another major area of Metinvest’s work is to assist in the demining of Ukraine. For this purpose, the Group has set up the production of mine trawls. Eight trawls are already neutralising mines on the front line, and two more are waiting to be taken by the military. In addition, Metinvest has invested UAH9.5 million in the construction of a Mine Action Centre to train more than 3,000 specialists in demining areas after hostilities.
Currently, more than 8,000 employees of Metinvest are serving in the armed forces of Ukraine. The Group provides them with bulletproof vests, helmets and warm clothes. Metinvest has spent UAH12 million on purchasing winter gear. It also delivers equipment and other items to the front line at the request of servicemen.
So far, more than 300 employees have returned to Metinvest’s enterprises from the war. The Group is developing a comprehensive programme that covers all stages of interaction with veterans, including physical and psychological recovery, retraining and employment.
The Group pays for medical treatment of every mobilised employee who has been seriously injured. It has also established the Metinvest Together service to provide psychological support to employees, including veterans, and their families. Since March 2022, specialists have organised more than 5,200 individual and group counselling sessions.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Metinvest has refocused the format of its social programmes to address the humanitarian needs of Ukrainians. Most of the aid is provided through the Saving Lives humanitarian project, which has been joined by ten foundations and NGOs and more than 250 donor companies from around the world.
Some 500,000 people have already received support from the project. Around 4,200 tonnes of food, personal care products and other essentials have been delivered to Ukraine. Medicines and equipment worth UAH9.5 million have been provided to hospitals.
The physical and psychological rehabilitation of Ukrainians affected by the war is an important part of the work that Saving Lives does. Through the humanitarian project’s partnerships, more than 100 people, both military and civilian, are at various stages of the prosthetics programme. The project also helps to provide special equipment for early verticalization of patients at 10 rehabilitation centres in Ukraine. In October 2023, Saving Lives helped to arrange more than 30 reconstructive face and neck surgeries for Ukrainian defenders wounded in the war. Among those undergoing surgery were two employees of Metinvest mobilised to the armed forces of Ukraine and four military personnel from regions where the Group operates: Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Donetsk regions. The surgeries were free of charge for all the victims.
Saving Lives also cares about the mental health of Ukrainians. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, nearly 1,200 women and children have undergone psychological rehabilitation with the initiative’s assistance.
Together with the UN Global Compact in Ukraine, Saving Lives has opened the first “Oplich HUB” community centre in Zaporizhzhia for the psychological rehabilitation of Ukrainians affected by the war.
The total contribution of the humanitarian project, encompassing all its aspects, exceeds UAH430 million, including funding from the Group and donors.
In addition, Metinvest is a reliable source of support for its employees and their family members. Since the beginning of the invasion, the Group has helped to evacuate around 20,000 people from Mariupol and Avdiivka and prepared more than 6,000 temporary shelters. Metinvest also helps its employees in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih to rebuild residential buildings damaged by shelling.
Since the start of the full-scale war, Metinvest has hired around 10,200 people at its facilities in Pokrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Kamianske. The Group has also provided free retraining in blue-collar professions that are in high demand in the metals and mining industry. In addition, Metinvest Polytechnic, Ukraine’s first private metals and mining university, currently has almost 700 students studying modern engineering and technical specialities. Many Metinvest employees and their children are among the students receiving tuition assistance for their studies.
The Group is already making plans to rebuild Ukraine after the victory and has presented the Steel Dream concept for restoring housing and social infrastructure. It includes more than 200 ready-made construction projects based on prefabricated elements such as frames, modules and platforms made from steel. There are already plans to use this technology to restore housing in the cities of Mariupol and Bakhmut once they are liberated.
Metinvest is planning to implement its ‘green’ transformation strategy despite the war. Among other objectives, this includes expanding the production of DR pellets, the main raw material for more environmentally friendly steelmaking using electric arc furnaces. The Group is committed to developing a new business format in which the EU market opens access for Ukrainian products. To make this possible in a time of war, business and government must join forces and go through this together.