PrJSC Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP, Dnipropetrovsk region) is trying to recover UAH 95.825 million in debt from PrJSC Marganetsky Mining and Processing Plant (MGZK, Dnipropetrovsk region) under a repayable financial assistance agreement.
According to court documents in case No. 904/1083/26 in the Commercial Court of Dnipropetrovsk region, copies of which are available to Interfax-Ukraine, NZF has filed a lawsuit against MGZK and is seeking to recover the debt.
The claims are based on the defendant’s improper performance of the terms of the agreement for the provision of repayable financial assistance No. 2203530 dated November 21, 2022.
The court left the statement of claim without consideration and gave the plaintiff seven days from the date of delivery of this ruling to remedy the deficiencies in the statement of claim, namely to provide proper evidence of payment of the court fee in the amount of UAH 831,840 thousand.
The ruling came into force upon its signing by the judge on March 6, 2026, and was made public on March 9.
Earlier it was reported that the Zaporizhzhya Ferroalloy Plant (ZFP) filed a lawsuit to recover from MGZK the debt under the contract for the supply of ferroalloys No. 11-2022/32 dated January 27, 2022, in the total amount of UAH 42 million 174.790 thousand. The claims are based on the defendant’s breach of contract in terms of payment for the delivered goods.
NZF, ZZF, and MGZK are part of the informal Privat Group.
NZF is Ukraine’s largest producer of silicon and ferromanganese. The average monthly output of ferroalloys during stable operation of the enterprise is about 55-60 thousand tons.
According to the NDU data for the fourth quarter of 2025, Sofalon Investments Limited owns 15.503% of the shares of PJSC, Rougella Properties Ltd. – 9.6904%, Dolemia Consulting Ltd. – 15.7056%, Sonerio Holdings Ltd. – 9.2158%, Manjalom Limited – 5.8824%, Treelon Investments Limited (all – Cyprus) – 15.1013%.
The NFP is controlled by the EastOne group, created in the fall of 2007 as a result of the restructuring of the Interpipe group, as well as the Privat group (both based in Dnipro).
MGZK develops the eastern part of the Nikopol manganese ore deposit (Grushevsko-Basanska section). The combine includes four mines, one of which is under construction, one quarry – Grushevsky, and an enrichment plant.
According to NDU data for the fourth quarter of 2025, the largest shareholders of MGZK are Couttenmax Holdings Limited, Mosfilia Investments Limited, and Humax Enterprises Limited, each of which owns 23.8933% of the company’s shares, as well as Fianex Holdings Limited (all based in Cyprus), which owns 24% of the shares.
The cost of this year’s sowing campaign for Ukrainian farmers will increase by about 15% compared to last year and will amount to about UAH 700 billion ($17 billion), said Denis Marchuk, deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (VAR).
“The difficulty is that this season’s sowing campaign will be more expensive. In total, it will cost Ukrainian producers around UAH 700 billion to carry out this work. Accordingly, this will be reflected in the final price of food products,” the expert said.
According to him, the main reasons for the increase in prices are the rise in fuel prices (by 10-15%), mineral fertilizers (by 20%), plant protection products, and seeds. This will lead to an increase in the price of the final food product by 3-5%.
Marchuk also added that due to weather conditions and snow cover in some regions, sowing will begin with a delay of about two weeks. At the same time, work is already actively underway in the south of the country.
The structure of crops will remain largely traditional: sunflower, corn, spring wheat, barley, soybeans, and buckwheat. At the same time, due to climate change, farmers are increasingly experimenting with niche crops, in particular chickpeas.
The deputy head of the UAA emphasized the importance of government support for agricultural producers, especially in frontline regions, where working conditions are the most difficult.
According to preliminary data, Ukrainian metallurgical companies reduced steel production in January-February of this year by 13.2% compared to the same period last year, to 1.026 million tons.
According to information from the Ukrmetallurgprom association on Monday evening, 515,000 tons of steel were produced in February, compared to 511,100 tons in the previous month.
As reported, Ukrainian steel companies reduced steel production by 2.2% in 2025 compared to 2024, to 7.409 million tons.
In 2024, Ukraine increased steel production by 21.6% compared to 2023, to 7.575 million tons.
In 2023, Ukraine reduced steel production by 0.6% compared to 2022, to 6.228 million tons.
In 2022, the country reduced steel production by 70.7% compared to 2021, to 6.263 million tons.
In pre-war 2021, 21.366 million tons of steel were produced, which was 103.6% of the 2020 level.
As part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative, Metinvest is working on exporting bunkers for the border between Poland and Russia, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Alexander Mironenko said in an interview with Pryamyy TV channel.
“We are mainly working with our Western partners on shelters. This is very relevant right now: we are showing them our solutions for the construction of various structures. For example, a hospital that fully complies with NATO Role2 standards. It has been inspected by numerous delegations: military medics, engineers, and foreign specialists, and everyone agreed that the solutions are quite effective,” said Myronenko.
According to him, the company has presented its engineering solutions based on “hideouts” at many military-themed exhibitions and meetings, and they are very popular.
“We are currently working on entering the international market with these solutions, for example, for the construction of the border between Poland and Russia, using our experience and proposals for underground structures. The NATO army does not have such experience, so they are very interested in this. And we exchange information and experience with them,” said the COO.
He added that the shelters have undergone a major transformation. Initially, they were simply “barrels” buried in the ground. “Now we provide a full service — it is essentially an underground house with its own lighting, generator, stove, and all amenities: just plug the generator into the outlet, and the room is ready for use,” the COO clarified.
“The unique product we are proud of is, of course, the protective structures for the Patriot and SAMP/T air defense systems. And now we are developing protection for the Hawk air defense system control module, which operates in Ukraine. In my opinion, this is a unique experience, because we are talking about state-of-the-art technology designed to protect the sky from the enemy, but certain shortcomings have been revealed in real combat conditions. Together with the military, we corrected them – we made the control modules, radar installations, and other systems safer so that personnel could feel confident even in dangerous situations and conduct air defense of our cities and towns,” explained the top manager.
He added that the company plans to continue supporting the military in all areas, both through the purchase of equipment and through the provision of its own products.
“In production, we will focus on protecting equipment: we will improve existing solutions and develop new ones for different types of equipment. The second area is the development of ”shelters” and solutions based on them. An underground training center has already been built on the basis of such shelters, and we are now completing the construction of another large underground center for pilot training. This is a large niche in which we plan to continue working and developing,” Myronenko concluded.
According to preliminary data, Ukrainian metallurgical companies reduced their total rolled steel production in January-February this year by 16.8% compared to the same period last year, from 957,000 tons to 797,000 tons.
According to information from the Ukrmetallurgprom association on Monday evening, 390,300 tons of rolled steel were produced in February, compared to 406,400 tons in the previous month.
As reported, Ukrainian steel companies increased their total rolled steel production by 4.8% in 2025 compared to 2024, to 6.521 million tons from 6.222 million tons.
In 2024, Ukraine increased its total rolled steel production by 15.8% compared to 2023, to 6.222 million tons from 5.372 million tons.
In 2023, Ukraine increased its total rolled steel production by 0.4% compared to 2022, to 5.372 million tons.
In 2022, the country reduced its total rolled steel production by 72% compared to 2021, to 5.350 million tons.
In pre-war 2021, 19.079 million tons of rolled steel were produced, which was 103.5% of the 2020 level.
According to Serbian Economist, Serbia plans to start construction of its first nuclear power plant by 2035 and is cooperating with French energy company EDF as part of its preparations, Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Jedovic Handanovic said in an interview with RTS.
The minister stressed that EDF can help Serbia with its experience and knowledge in preparing the project. At the same time, she said, no decision has yet been made on the specific technology for the future nuclear power plant.
The preparatory process for the construction of the nuclear power plant is estimated to take approximately four years: by mid-2027, the authorities intend to complete the first phase, which involves analyzing the regulatory framework and requirements, after which the second phase, including preparation for construction, will begin. The ministry noted that the first additional studies are planned to be carried out jointly with EDF with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD) on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement between Serbia and France.
Against the backdrop of the launch of the nuclear agenda, Serbia is simultaneously in contact with other potential partners and technology suppliers.
Potential partners and companies involved in the preparation and negotiations:
France – EDF (as well as Egis Industries as part of the preliminary technical study contractors).
Serbia also signed a memorandum with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP, South Korea) on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy and personnel training.
Serbia considered Rosatom (Russia) as a possible partner for the exchange of experience.
Separately, it was reported that Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC, UAE) was ready to share its roadmap for the development of a nuclear program.
The United States (agreements/information exchange between regulators and willingness to support program preparation) and China (memorandum with the China Institute of Atomic Energy) were also mentioned in the context of contacts.
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