Since 2019, Interpipe, a vertically integrated pipe and wheel company, has shipped more than 7,800 wheelsets for the Iberian gauge to customers.
According to a press release, the company has delivered the first batch of ULT SP wheelsets under the KLW brand for the Iberian gauge, and since its launch, the “long” wheelset has quickly gained popularity among customers.
Interpipe’s railway business is currently celebrating the 5th anniversary of its entry into the niche market. It is specified that the ULT SP wheelset is part of the Ultimate line of low-load railway products for freight cars. This design was developed specifically for use on the Iberian gauge. The latter combines rail systems with 1668 mm gauge tracks, which is 233 mm wider than the standard European gauge. The product meets the latest standards for freight wheels and axles, as well as the special requirements of the Spanish and Portuguese rail markets, which are dominated by this type of railroad gauge.
“Interpipe has further strengthened its position not only as a manufacturer, but also as a developer of advanced wheel, axle and wheelset designs. The Ultimate line is in demand among customers in many European countries, now including operators of various types of railways,” the statement emphasizes.
“Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company, a manufacturer of steel pipes and railway products. The company’s products are supplied to more than 50 countries through a network of sales offices located in key markets in the Middle East, North America and Europe. In 2023, Interpipe sold 387 thousand tons of pipe products and 95 thousand tons of railway products under the KLW brand.
The company has five industrial assets: “Interpipe Nizhnedneprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant (NTZ), Interpipe Novomoskovsky Pipe Rolling Plant (NMPP), Interpipe Niko Tube, Dnipropetrovs’k Vtormet and Dnipro Steel, an electric steelmaking complex under the Interpipe Steel brand.
The total number of employees of the company is about 9.5 thousand.
The ultimate owner of Interpipe Limited is Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and his family members.
Sukha Balka mine (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro region), part of Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, has commissioned a new block with iron ore reserves of 41.5 thousand tons.
As reported in DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, a new production unit was commissioned at the Frunze mine, which will ensure production in the coming months.
“On February 26, a new block 55-61 from the Druzhba deposit at the -1210-meter horizon was commissioned at the Frunze mine. The production capacity reserves amount to 41.5 thousand tons of high-quality raw materials with an iron content of 60% to 66%. Sinking and mining operations were carried out with the help of self-propelled equipment, while drilling was carried out using NKR machines. The extraction of raw materials is organized by a classic end-face production,” the information states.
The block’s reserves are planned to be developed in 2.5 months. Block 55-61 is the final block at the -1210 m horizon, and the next production units will be developed at lower horizons of the deposit.
It is also worth mentioning that in January, Yubileynaya Mine commissioned a new block with 135,000 tons of raw materials, which is planned to be developed within five months.
Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It produces iron ore by underground mining. The mine includes Yubileynaya and Frunze mines. Frunze mine.
DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz Group in May 2017.
Over the past three years, ArcelorMittal Corporation has provided $1 billion in aid to its Kryvyi Rih mining and metallurgical plant, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR, Dnipro region), Mauro Longobardo, CEO of AMKR, said.
According to him, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih’s total charitable assistance since the beginning of the war has amounted to over UAH 710 million.
“Our main task in 2024 was to work despite all the challenges to be able to pay taxes and help communities. We were able to achieve this, in particular, thanks to the support of the parent company. Over the past three years, the group has supported us with more than $1 billion, of which capital investments amounted to $0.3 billion,” the CEO said, as quoted by the press service.
He added that as one of the largest taxpayers, we understand that these funds are used for the country’s defense and to bring the Victory closer.
“But we also understand our responsibility to the city, surrounding communities and our employees. Despite the unprofitable financial results, we did a lot of work to reintegrate veterans who returned to us after serving in the Armed Forces, helped the families of our fallen colleagues, employees affected by enemy attacks, and assisted in the restoration of infrastructure facilities in various communities. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that Ukraine wins and starts rebuilding,” the CEO emphasized.
According to the press release, in 2024, AMKR allocated more than UAH 60 million to support communities and provide charitable assistance to war-affected people. In 2024, the main areas of the company’s social and charitable activities were to help local communities and war victims. The company focused its efforts on reducing internal costs and optimizing resource consumption, but despite the difficult financial situation, it provided assistance to healthcare and education institutions in Kryvyi Rih and the region.
A significant part of the company’s social assistance is to help the families of employees who died and employees whose homes were destroyed or damaged by hostile shelling: UAH 35.55 million in payments to the families of the deceased, UAH 6 million 406.3 thousand in assistance to the victims of shelling. The company allocated UAH 3.4 million to repair the neurological department of the Kryvyi Rih Central District Hospital of the Novopil Village Council.
More than UAH 1.8 million was allocated to the city’s educational institutions. The main projects include repairing the roof of the Kryvyi Rih Metallurgical Vocational College, manufacturing and installing a fence to equip the educational building No. 3 of the Kryvyi Rih College, and helping to repair classrooms and workshops for three Kryvyi Rih educational institutions: Kryvyi Rih Metallurgy and Machine Building Education Center, Kryvyi Rih Professional Mining and Metallurgical Lyceum and Transport and Metallurgical Lyceum.
In 2024, AMKR continued to provide assistance to communities, allocating about UAH 1 million for their development. The company allocated slag and crushed stone for road filling and repair to restore the infrastructure of districts and rural communities (Metallurgical District Council in the city, Kamyanka village in Kryvyi Rih district to fill the dam, Lozuvata and Sofiyivka communities).
AMKR helped to repair the water supply system in Stepove village of the Grechanopodiv community and provided slag for road repairs in Kherson region. The company also manufactured and installed a monument to the fallen defenders in Arkhangelske village, Beryslav district, Kherson region.
In addition, the company provided 100,000 tons of blast furnace slag to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine to improve departmental border roads. AMKR also provided assistance in other areas, mostly aimed at working with veterans of the plant and the city and their reintegration into society. The main types of assistance included: helping the Veteran service office to set up a newly created veteran hub; assisting in organizing the charity concert “With Faith in Victory”; organizing a field trip for children with special needs to Kamyanets-Podilsky; and helping the Veterans Union NGO.
In 2024, with the support of Korn Ferry, the company also developed and implemented the project “Return of Veterans to Civilian Life,” which includes the organization of a coordination center for veterans on the basis of the Single Window, the creation of inclusive workplaces with individual work with each veteran, rehabilitation programs for veterans on the basis of the company’s medical center and health insurance, priority provision of vouchers to mobilized and demobilized employees, and preferential meals in the canteens of the AMKR.
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest rolled steel producer in Ukraine. It specializes in long products, including rebar and wire rod.
ArcelorMittal owns the largest mining and metallurgical plant in Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and a number of small companies, including ArcelorMittal Berislav.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, has resumed exports of European sections that had been suspended since the beginning of the war.
According to a report in DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, since the start of the full-scale invasion, the company has not been able to sell its products for export, as such supplies were mostly unprofitable. During this time, Euro profiles were produced at Rolling Shop No. 2 only in the summer of 2023 at the request of Metinvest.
It is also reported that during the first rolling campaign of the year, Rolling Shop No. 2 produced 7.1 thousand tons of products for Ukrainian and foreign consumers. The production campaign started on January 31 and lasted for two weeks seven days a week. It was planned to start work in mid-January, but the timing had to be adjusted due to a delay in the supply of billets for the export batch of rolled products.
During the winter campaign, the shop produced about 5,000 tons of channels under a standard tolling scheme for the Ukrainian market and 2,000 tons of products for European countries. To produce Euro profiles, we purchased a long billet and cut it into multiple lengths – this is the first time such work has been done at Mill 550, previously it was performed at Rolling Shop No. 1.
For the first time, commercial batches of channels were made from cast squares, and the production of export products from this type of billet was launched in 2024.
“Over the past two years, the rollers have done a lot of work to switch from rolled to cast billets. This made it possible to reduce production costs. Now we are continuing this work: during the winter campaign, the shop mastered the production of channel 22 from a cast billet with a cross section of 200×200 mm. Previously, this type of profile was made exclusively from rolled billets of 135×280, so suppliers had to additionally roll the billets produced by the CCM to the required parameters. The experiment was successful, and in the next campaign we plan to produce a commercial batch of channel 22 from a cast billet,” explained Yuriy Mikhailov, Deputy General Director for Metallurgical Production.
The plant continued experiments to master the production of R-34 rail products, which were previously manufactured at Mill 800: the billet was rolled through the first stand and templates were taken for analysis.
“The campaign lasted longer than planned due to the experiments and certain difficulties encountered when rolling channels from cast billets. There were stoppages due to breakdowns of crane equipment and the lower shaft of stand No. 7. But in general, the shop was well prepared and worked well. Almost all of the products have been shipped to customers, and we have no comments on quality,” stated Mikhailov.
Rolling Shop No. 2 is currently repairing equipment to ensure that the next production cycle is efficiently run. The second rolling campaign is expected to start in March-April.
It is also reported that all channels in accordance with DSTU 10 to 22 and the main range of Euro profiles have been converted to cast billets at Mill 550. In the next rolling campaign, the shop plans to launch production of 24 channels from cast squares. In January-February, Rolling Shop No. 2 rolled channels 10 to 30 for Ukrainian customers and Euro channels U 120, U 140, U 160, U 180 and U 200.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, cast iron, rolled products and products made from them.
On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dnipro Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
The State Customs Service of Ukraine (SCSU) has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Alliance Against Counterfeit Spirits to improve the effectiveness of assisting right holders in protecting their intellectual property rights and establishing business relations with industry associations, groups and unions.
“The protection of intellectual property rights is primarily aimed at supporting legal business and a fair competitive environment in the market, as well as at eradicating counterfeiting as a phenomenon. The Customs Service is taking measures to ensure that foreign manufacturers selling their products on the Ukrainian market have the opportunity to carry out their activities as predictably as possible. Information exchange with the alliance and strengthening of border control enable customs to effectively counteract counterfeiting,” said acting head of the State Customs Service Serhiy Zvyagintsev, as quoted in the agency’s statement.
The State Customs Service is convinced that the signing of the memorandum will help bring the fight against counterfeiting to a new level. The joint initiatives envisage the introduction of modern methods of checking alcohol when it is transported across the customs border of Ukraine, and training customs officials in new and up-to-date methods of identifying signs of counterfeiting.
“Thousands of people around the world are becoming victims of counterfeit alcoholic beverages. Producers of counterfeit goods have become very flexible, they are constantly adapting to the circumstances. Therefore, cooperation with the customs service is a key opportunity for us to gain an advantage in this confrontation with counterfeiters. We are pleased to expand our cooperation with Ukraine, which, despite the difficult conditions, continues to counteract the movement of counterfeit goods. This is an important step towards a transparent market and consumer safety,” said AACS Chairman Matthew Prot.
AACS unites 2/3 of all the world’s leading spirits producers, including Diageo (Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff), Pernod Ricard (Chivas Regal, Absolut), Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel’s, Finlandia), etc. The Alliance is active in more than 20 developed economies, cooperating with governments, customs administrations and law enforcement agencies to combat the illegal production and trafficking of spirits and implement high standards of control at the customs border.
FDI McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd., which develops the McDonald’s fast food chain in Ukraine, invested UAH 1.8 billion in 2024 in the construction and modernization of its Ukrainian restaurants, the company’s press service reports.
According to the press release, last year McDonald’s opened eight new restaurants in Ukraine and reconstructed three of the existing ones. In line with its expansion strategy, the company built establishments in cities with a population of over a million and their satellites, in regional centers and on busy highways. New restaurants were opened in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv and Vinnytsia, and the first McDonald’s opened in Chernivtsi, Boyarka and Kovel. 7 out of 8 restaurants opened during the year are located in separate buildings, and one is in a shopping center.
“McDonald’s continued to open restaurants in cooperation with gas stations to offer several services in one location. In 2024, one of these restaurants opened near the entrance to Odesa on the M-05 highway, and another opened at the entrance to Kyiv near the Boryspilska metro station. In total, there are five restaurants in Ukraine built in cooperation with four partner filling stations: OKKO, WOG, KLO and Grand Petrol. The construction of a restaurant in Mukachevo in cooperation with OKKO is also underway.
When constructing new and modernizing existing sites, the company uses modern thermal insulation materials and equipment, installs a recovery system and heat pumps to significantly save energy. 94% of the facilities are already equipped with generators and are completely energy independent.
Much attention is also paid to creating a barrier-free environment. For the convenience of people with disabilities, the elderly and visitors with children, the company implements inclusive solutions when modernizing and building new establishments. In particular, the restaurants provide navigation for visually impaired people with tactile tiles and Braille information signs, as well as special seats for people in wheelchairs. In addition, a passenger elevator and automatic doors were installed for customers in wheelchairs in one of the renovated restaurants on Vokzalna Square in Kyiv, and sliding doors were installed in a new restaurant in Vinnytsia.
According to McDonald’s estimates, the chain has the potential to open up to 500 restaurants in the Ukrainian market, so the company is increasing its development in current and new regions. In 2025, the company plans to open 9 new restaurants and continue to modernize the existing ones by updating the design in line with modern McDonald’s concepts, creating an accessible space for everyone, implementing inclusive and digital solutions. Given the security situation, the central and western regions of the country remain a priority for growth.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Ukraine was opened on May 24, 1997 in Kyiv. Currently, 109 restaurants operate in 36 locations across the country, with another 15 restaurants remaining closed due to security concerns.
According to Opendatabot, McDonald’s revenue in Ukraine for the three quarters of 2024 amounted to UAH 12 billion 362 million 085 thousand, while profit amounted to UAH 1 billion 294 million 658 thousand.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the participant of FDI in McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd. is MCD Europe Limited (100%, London, UK).
