According to the Interfax-Ukraine Culture project, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Ukraine has donated a selection of books in Greek and English to Mariupol State University to replenish its library collection, reports a journalist from the “Culture” department of the Interfax-Ukraine agency from the scene.
“After relocating from Mariupol to Kyiv, the support of the Republic of Cyprus and the Cypriot Embassy has become even more important to us. Today, this is no longer just assistance, but a real contribution to preserving Mariupol State University as an important institution not only for the Donetsk region, but for all of Ukraine and Europe,” said Tetyana Marena, acting rector of Mariupol State University.
According to her, prior to the full-scale war, Mariupol State University housed the Konstantinos Levendis Library of Hellenistic Studies, which contained approximately 17,000 volumes and was one of the largest collections of Hellenistic literature in the former CIS.
Part of the library’s collection was destroyed as a result of Russian shelling of Mariupol, while a significant portion of the unique collection remained in the occupied territory and is currently under the control of the occupiers.
“We are proud to be a center for the preservation of the Greek language, culture, and history in Ukraine,” Marena emphasized.
Michalis Firillas, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cyprus to Ukraine, noted that supporting Mariupol University became one of the first areas of cooperation after he became acquainted with the institution.
“We immediately felt that Mariupol University’s struggle was very close to our hearts. One of the first ideas was to donate Greek-language books to the library to restore what had been lost,” he said.
According to the ambassador, most of the donated publications are devoted to the history, culture, architecture, and literature of Cyprus and Greece and cover the period from antiquity to the present day.
The event was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine and former rector of Mariupol State University, Mykola Trofimenko.
“It was one of the largest Hellenistic libraries in the world. And it is very important that today we are continuing this story—a story of success,” noted Trofimenko.
“Mariupol University, located in the city of Mariupol, housed one of the largest collections of Hellenistic publications in the former CIS—about 20,000 books. It was the center of Hellenistic studies, the most prominent in Ukraine, and it remains so to this day. Unfortunately, due to the occupation, a significant portion of this collection is now in the hands of the occupiers. We hope that the collection has been preserved,” said the ambassador’s assistant, Iryna Chalova.
According to her, after Mariupol State University relocated to Kyiv, the university began building a new library of Hellenistic publications.
“A new collection is currently being formed at the university’s Kyiv library, and thanks to a donation from the Embassy of Cyprus, it has already been supplemented with new books. We hope that we will be able to restore the library to the scale that Mariupol University had before the war,” Chalova noted.
She also emphasized that Cyprus’s support has taken on special significance following the university’s relocation.
“After Mariupol University moved to Kyiv, the support from Cyprus and the Cypriot Embassy has become even more important. This is a tangible contribution to preserving the university as a vital institution not only for the Donetsk region but for all of Ukraine and Europe,” she added.
After the official part, participants were invited to mingle during a reception and were also offered a short tour of the campus and a visit to the newly established Museum of Greek Cultural Heritage, located on the first floor of the academic building.
Separately, Firillas, responding to students’ questions, noted that for future specialists in international relations, it is no longer enough today to be an expert in just one field.
“In international relations, language skills are obviously necessary. But, in addition to this, you need to develop expertise in other areas. A foundation in economics or finance, even if it is not a full-fledged program of study, is an important complement,” the ambassador said.
He also emphasized the importance of cultural understanding in diplomacy.
“I have always considered it very important to have a certain cultural connection—to understand history, the origins of language, and its roots. It is these things that shape the identity of modern people and modern humanity,” noted Firillas.
According to him, young Ukrainian graduates should be given more opportunities for internships and training within the European Union, particularly in Brussels, in legal or business institutions.
“There is a certain way of doing things, a certain language, and a certain ethos of approach to the common compromise known as the European Union. We all have national interests, but we all share a common goal, so we must make some concessions. For Ukrainians who want to work in international relations, such an experience would be a wonderful addition,” the ambassador said.
After the occupation of Mariupol, Mariupol State University was relocated to Kyiv and continues to operate as a Ukrainian institution of higher education.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1167746.html
Metinvest Group, together with Rinat Akhmetov’s charitable project Heart of Azovstal, will continue to support the defenders of Mariupol until the last of them returns home from captivity, said the company’s Chief Operating Officer Alexander Mironenko at the conference Heart of Azovstal. Growing Together in Kyiv.
“We are strengthening veteran programs and creating new opportunities for education and professional development. Because veterans are a force that will help rebuild Ukrainian industry and the country after the war,” said Mironenko, whose words are quoted in a press release.
According to him, in three years of operation, this project, which is part of the Steel Front military initiative, has supported more than 8,000 defenders of Mariupol. They received more than 28,000 types of assistance: physical and psychological rehabilitation, prosthetics, their own apartments (for defenders with I and II disability groups), support in obtaining education and employment, etc.
It is noted that at the end of 2025, Akhmetov decided to continue the project for another year and allocated an additional UAH 600 million for its financing, bringing the total amount of aid over four years to UAH 2.2 billion.
This year, the Azovstal Hearts program will continue to support Mariupol defenders returning from captivity. It is planned to provide another 100 apartments to defenders with I-II disability groups under the At Home program — a total of 400 defenders will receive apartments over four years.
The report also notes that the post-traumatic growth methodology will be extended to the national level, and pilot training for communities working with veterans will be conducted in Bucha and Kamensk.
For its part, Metinvest is creating conditions for war veterans, including defenders of Mariupol, to integrate into enterprise teams, receive training, and build careers, as well as veteran communities and public associations where they can receive support. More than a thousand war veterans currently work at the group’s enterprises.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions – as well as in European countries. The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Steel Limited (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
Due to the full-scale war, the mining and metallurgical group Metinvest reduced its annual revenue from $10-12 billion to $5-6 billion, while remaining a profitable company, its CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said in an interview with the British newspaper The Times.
The war has significantly affected the financial performance of Metinvest, which sells a significant portion of its metal products in Ukraine and exports iron ore, flat-rolled products, and semi-finished products to 51 countries, including China, India, and the US.
According to Ryzhenkov, “before the war, the business usually had an annual income of $10-12 billion, and now this figure is around $5-6 billion. Despite this, the company remains profitable, and the CEO considers the impact of Trump’s tariffs to be insignificant.”
At the same time, it is noted that Metinvest’s largest enterprises were bombed and put out of operation, including the Mariupol metallurgical plants, which were one of the first battlefields. Metinvest’s revenue has halved, and its workforce has shrunk to around 50,000. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs at the group’s enterprises; 8,000 are now serving in the Armed Forces, and 764 employees have been killed.
Despite these losses, top management has managed to keep those who remained in the company motivated. Metinvest is one of the largest private donors to the Ukrainian army, and its steel is used for shelters and military equipment.
“Employees feel that they are part of the resistance. And they are proud of it,” said the CEO.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine—in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions—as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of the Metinvest Group.
The Mariupol Investment Group (MIG, UTA Group), which owned the UkrTransAgro sea terminal in Mariupol before the Russian military invasion, has resumed trading agricultural products through the Danube ports.
The grain trader in the current 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) has already shipped 3.14 thousand tons of wheat on barges, according to the organization’s Facebook page.
“For our company, this is an important event, since we are returning to business after losing access to the territories and the terminal itself in Mariupol (…) Now we are at the stage of formation and improvement of business processes, which will allow us to reach the design capacity for shipping up to 15 thousand tons per month. We hope that soon we will gather our former team of specialists, who are now in different parts of Ukraine,” UTA Group quotes its head Pavel Plotnikov.
The company clarified that in July this year it rented a granary with a capacity of 5 thousand tons in order to accumulate agricultural products for further export, while in the first month of operation it processed a total of 5.5 thousand tons of wheat.
As reported, the marine terminal of UkrTransAgro LLC (Mariupol, Donetsk region), which is part of the Mariupol Investment Group (MIG, UTA Group), stopped working immediately after the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
UkrTransAgro LLC and UTA Logistic LLC are part of MIG, founded in 2007 by Oleksandr Savchuk to consolidate assets. Later, Savchuk divided the management of the main (Azovmash group) and promising (MIG) business areas.
In 2010 MIG was transformed into the management company “Mariupol Investment Group”.
MIG manages the Azov Shipyard, UkrTransAgro LLC, UTA Logistic LLC, Maritime Logistics LLC, Martlet LLC, TRK TV-7 LLC.
Transshipment of grain and oilseeds through the sea terminal of UkrTransAgro LLC in 2020/2021 MY decreased by 39% compared to 2019/2020 MY – to 430 thousand tons from 711 thousand tons.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, Danube, INVESTMENT GROUP, MARIUPOL, PORTS
A film about Mariupol, shot by Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius, won the Golden Eye Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the press service of the Verkhovna Rada reports.
“The documentary “Mariupoli 2″ was edited from material that the Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravičius filmed before his death. He arrived in Mariupol in March and filmed the lives of civilians. Then he died,” the message on the telegram channel says.
The jury of the Cannes Film Festival noted the film as “very radical, courageous, artistic and existential” and emphasized that it cannot be compared with any other film in the competition.
As reported, the Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Kvedaravichyus died in Mariupol (Donetsk region) on April 2. He is the author of the film “Mariupoli” released in 2016 about life in front-line Mariupol, which was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival.
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, DOCUMENTARY FILM, MARIUPOL, SPECIAL PRIZE
Mining and metallurgical group “Metinvest” Rinat Akhmetov and Vadim Novinsky intends to employ most of the 13 thousand metallurgists and repairmen evacuated from Mariupol.
“Metinvest Group has decided to keep the payment in full to all employees for March, despite the fact that the enterprises of Mariupol did not work a day. To everyone who left for the territory controlled by Ukraine, the company keeps payments in the amount of 2/3 of the salary and offers vacancies in Metinvest career centers in Zaporozhye, Kryvyi Rih, Kamensky and Pokrovsk,” the company said on Tuesday.
It is noted that the decision was approved for the priority employment of immigrants from Mariupol at the company’s enterprises – about 2,000 vacancies have been prepared. Negotiations are ongoing with partners to deploy more possible jobs. We are talking about municipal utilities of cities and various humanitarian missions.
It is also indicated that the company is working to address the priority needs of employees from Mariupol: everyone who traveled to the cities where the Metinvest group operates can be temporarily resettled at facilities prepared for this and receive humanitarian assistance: food kits, clothes, accessories for children and basic household items. In addition, company employees can count on medical and psychological support.
For those who find jobs, payments in the amount of UAH 10,000 from the Metinvest group are also provided as assistance in setting up a life.
It is also stated that not only Mariupol metallurgical plants, but also enterprises in Avdiivka have been stopped at present.
“We are launching production in Zaporozhye, but it is not working to its full capacity. Volumes have been reduced in Krivoy Rog, Kamensky and Pokrovsk. The Metinvest group is trying with all its might to maintain production in order to pay wages to those who work and support those who find themselves in difficulty from -for Russia’s attack on Ukraine, as well as helping Ukraine bring victory closer,” the company’s information emphasizes.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions, in European countries. The main shareholders of Metinvest are the SCM group (71.25%) of Rinat Akhmetov and Smart Holding (23.75%) of Vadim Novinsky, who jointly manage the company.
