ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih’s Kryvyi Rih Mining and Metallurgical Plant (AMKR, Dnipro region) has mastered the production of a new type of billets with a size of 160×160 mm in the continuous casting department of its converter shop to increase exports.
As reported in the corporate newspaper Metallurg, until recently, the department’s product mix was limited to 130×130 and 150×150 mm square billets. The new product was launched due to its economic advantages and export potential, as the 160×160 mm size is used by rolling mills in many countries.
The project was successfully implemented thanks to careful calculations, equipment modernization and well-coordinated teamwork. These products will enable the production of heavier rebar coils, which will reduce transportation costs and increase the company’s competitiveness.
The company explains that VBRS products are steel billets used in rolling mills to make rebar, wire rod, angles and other rolled products. And the billets themselves are in demand on the market.
“Rebar in coils is currently in demand on global markets. Our DS 250-4 mill produces bobbins in coils up to 2 tons. And 30 such coils can be placed in a railroad car, i.e. 60 tons. If we increase the weight of the coils, we can transport up to 67 tons of products in a railroad car. This means that we can save a lot of money on transportation, which is especially important given that transportation prices are rising. That’s why we needed more massive billets to produce heavier coils,” said Igor Smolev, Deputy Director of the Rolling Department for Technology and Quality.
In turn, Dmitry Terekhov, Director of the Iron and Steel Production Department, said that the second good reason to start manufacturing new products was that many rolling mills in the world, in particular in Germany and Poland, use 160×160 mm billets, so this is a very promising product right now.
“Together with the technical department, we explored the possibilities of producing the billets in demand and found that it was possible, despite the fact that our continuous casting machines (CCMs) were not designed for this. We decided to use CCM-1 because it produced only 150 mm squares, while the first and second machines produce both 150 mm and 130 mm. The first machine is also used for closed jet casting, so it is on this machine that we produce the vast majority of billets from high value-added steel grades (high-alloy, low-carbon, etc.),” Terekhov stated.
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine. It specializes in long products, including rebar and wire rod. The company has a full production cycle and its production capacities are designed to produce over 6 million tons of steel, over 5 million tons of rolled products and over 5.5 million tons of pig iron annually.
ArcelorMittal owns the largest mining and metallurgical plant in Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and a number of small companies, including ArcelorMittal Berislav.
In 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) repaired 24,233 thousand freight cars at its own production facilities, which is 18.7%, or 3.82 thousand, more than a year earlier.
“During the year, the railroad’s car repairers carried out depot and overhaul repairs of virtually all types of freight cars. Most of all, gondola cars, platforms of universal and hopper cement cars were renovated,” UZ said on its Facebook page.
According to the report, 48% of all repaired railcars belong to the private fleet.
During his visit to Lviv, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno announced an additional EUR 10 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
According to the Spanish Foreign Ministry, Albares visited Ukraine on January 28 for the third time since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression.
Albares, along with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, inaugurated a cultural center created through the Spanish-University of Spain Development Cooperation Trust Fund. The center, funded by AECID, was created to create a space specifically dedicated to culture as a factor of peace and resilience in the wartime and post-war context in Ukraine, a country whose cultural productive structure lost 90% of its resources due to the war unleashed by the Russian invasion.
“This center complements Spain’s comprehensive commitment to Ukraine’s reconstruction, which is reflected today in a new announcement of EUR 10 million from the Spanish Humanitarian Aid Cooperation, adding to the 100 million that Spain has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war,” the statement said.
This area of humanitarian aid is complemented by another – reconstruction, which has accumulated EUR400 million since the beginning of Russian aggression.
Albares also visited a hospital in Lviv, where he announced that Spain would provide a Spanish team of medical trainers to help medical professionals in the hospital.
Albares reiterated Spain’s support for Ukraine during the Russian aggression. In particular, the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Spain includes about 7000 trained military personnel.
In addition, Albares also reaffirmed support for Ukraine’s accession process to the European Union, which began during Spain’s EU presidency, reminding Ukraine that Spain has always expressed its strong support for it.
Agro-Region plans to install another irrigation system in the Kyiv cluster in 2025, which will increase the irrigated area by 20% to 580 hectares, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
Ivan Andriychuk, Executive Director of Kyiv Cluster, said that the existing irrigation systems are currently being modernized to make more efficient use of water resources.
He reminded that in 2025, the company had already made significant investments in upgrading its technology park to increase production efficiency and ensure business stability. As part of this modernization, three Daewoo Novus trucks, one Massey Ferguson 8737 tractor and three Renault Duster cars were purchased for the Kyiv cluster.
“We are planning to purchase additional tillage equipment to improve land cultivation, as well as to equip seeders to improve sowing accuracy. These investments help to increase the company’s efficiency, reducing costs and improving yields. They are an important step in ensuring the stability and development of agricultural production in the future,” the expert summarized.
As reported, in December 2024-January 2025, the agricultural holding invested more than $1.7 million in the renewal of the machine and tractor fleet for the spring season.
Agro-Region owns a land bank of 39 thousand hectares in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytsky regions. It specializes in crop production. It consists of 11 companies organized into four crop production clusters. It has two elevators – Boryspil elevator with a capacity of 73 thousand tons and Miropil elevator with a capacity of 52 thousand tons.
Agro-Region’s annual harvest of grains and oilseeds is up to 200 thousand tons.
In April 2021, the Swedish company Lobiu Sala AB, owned by the former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavičius, received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to purchase the Swedish Agro Region Stockholm Holding, which manages the Agro-Region group of companies in Ukraine.
In 2024, Universalna Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected insurance premiums worth UAH 2.535 billion, which is 26% higher than a year earlier, the company reported on its website.
According to the company, payments for voluntary motor vehicle insurance (hull insurance) amounted to UAH 889.3 million, up 37%, health insurance – UAH 731.1 million (+26%), and accident insurance – UAH 250.5 million (+5%).
Last year’s payments under compulsory motor third-party liability insurance amounted to UAH 162 million (+10%).
In addition, the company collected UAH 140 million (+34%) under property insurance contracts and UAH 362 million (+26%) under other contracts.
Universalna Insurance Company was founded in 1991. It specializes in providing risk insurance services. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, it is among the top ten risk insurance companies in terms of insurance premiums collected in the first nine months of 2024.
Last year, Nova Poshta, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine, increased the number of branches and post offices in Ukraine by 10 thousand compared to 2023, to 37,210 points, the company’s press service reports.
“Over the past year, the network of Nova Poshta branches and post offices in Ukraine has increased by more than 10 thousand units, bringing the total number to 37,210 service points,” the company said on Tuesday.
This includes the opening of 1,747 branches last year and the installation of 8,410 post offices across the country, the press service of Nova Poshta said.
Despite the difficult security situation, including regular enemy shelling, the company continued to develop its network in the frontline areas: in 2024, it opened 1214 service points there, most of them in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Last year, investments in the development of Nova Poshta’s network of branches and post offices increased by 35% year-on-year to UAH 1.8 billion.
As of the beginning of 2025, Nova Poshta’s network consists of a total of 13,208 outlets and 24,002 post offices. It covers more than 10 thousand settlements in Ukraine.
This year, the company plans to increase the number of service points in Ukraine by another 11 thousand and allocate UAH 1.2 billion in investments, the press service said.
In Kyiv, Nova Poshta has opened the first barrier-free branch with all the conditions for comfortable service for people with disabilities. Its area is 709 square meters. The branch is equipped with adapted furniture, has a wide entrance without a threshold and automatic doors with a sound beacon. A digital assistant has been set up in the branch. Investments in its arrangement amounted to UAH 32 million.
