Since the beginning of the year, Uglepromtrans LLC, a member of Metinvest Group, has transported 2 million tons of coking coal and coal concentrate within the framework of Metinvest Pokrovskugol, which manages the enterprises of Pokrovsk Coal Group (Pokrovskoye).
According to the company, Vuglepromtrans trains are responsible for delivering premium concentrate to customers. Despite the war, the railroaders are working in a stable mode, increasing their speed and shunting operations.
In addition, it is reported that locomotive crews at Shakhtnaya station are providing railcars for loading coal concentrate to their main customers, Pokrovskoye Mine Administration and Svyato-Varvarinskaya Concentrator.
Currently, the rolling stock service employs 63 people, and one in four of them is a diesel locomotive driver.
As reported, in 2023, Vuhlepromtrans railroaders built 68 meters of track and three turnouts. The plans for this year are to lay another turnout and 60 meters of track, which will facilitate access to the diesel locomotive garage.
Nikolay Vishnevsky, Director of Vuglepromtrans, noted that in the face of a full-scale invasion, Metinvest transformed its business in a timely manner and set up logistics to maintain key production facilities and, most importantly, retained its staff.
“Metinvest created Metinvest Pokrovskugol, which manages the Pokrovske Coal Group’s enterprises. It includes, among others, Pokrovske Mine Administration and Svyato-Varvarinskaya Concentrator.
Svyato-Varvarinskaya Enrichment Plant is a premium coal concentrate producer in Ukraine. Its production capacity is about 8 million tons of raw coking coal per year with the ability to enrich five different classes of coal.
Pokrovskoye (formerly Chervonoarmeyskaya-Zapadnaya No. 1) is Ukraine’s largest coking coal producer.
The major shareholders of Metinvest B.V. are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%), which jointly manage the company. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Metinvest Group’s Central, Ingulets and Northern Mining and Processing Plants (MPPs), which were transformed into United Mining and Processing Plant (UMPP), paid UAH 2.8 billion in taxes in January-June 2024.
According to the company’s press release on Thursday, in the same period of 2023, YuGOK, Central GOK and InGOK transferred UAH 1.4 billion to the state and municipal budgets.
“Despite the ongoing war, economic difficulties and challenges, Metinvest’s Kryvyi Rih enterprises remain one of the largest taxpayers and a strong pillar of the region and Ukraine,” the company said.
It is specified that in the first half of 2024, the main sources of budget revenues from Northern GOK, Central GOK and InGOK were the subsoil use tax – UAH 1.7 billion. The treasury also received a single social contribution of almost UAH 357 million and personal income tax of UAH 318 million. The list of the largest contributions includes land fees and environmental tax.
According to the press release, Kryvyi Rih enterprises remain the largest employer in the region. In addition, the GOKs continue to support Kryvyi Rih and the community by implementing joint humanitarian, educational and infrastructure projects.
As a reminder, in the first half of 2024, Metinvest Group increased its tax payments to the Ukrainian budget by one and a half times, to UAH 10 billion.
As reported, Metinvest is implementing a new model for the operation of Kryvyi Rih mining enterprises, uniting mining and processing plants in Kryvyi Rih under one management.
“Given the current challenges, with no objective way to bring the workload of the GOKs to the optimal level, we are looking for the effect of combining their capabilities and business processes. To this end, the company sees its GOKs not as separate facilities with separate teams, but as one large production site and one large team, and tries to use the advantages of each GOK in a single technological chain. The creation of a single administrative and management center, so to speak, a consolidated GOK, will significantly simplify, speed up and increase the efficiency of these processes, as well as contribute to the creation of new synergies between the enterprises,” explained Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, earlier.
In 2023, Metinvest’s Kryvyi Rih enterprises paid a total of UAH 4.6 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels.
“Metinvest comprises mining and metallurgical enterprises located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group plans to carry out a large-scale green transformation of its Ukrainian assets – GOKs, Kametstal and Zaporizhstal – worth about $9 billion within 5-10 years after the end of the war.
According to a report by dsnews.ua, this will require external financing.
It is specified that as soon as the hostilities end, the group will increase production (currently, its enterprises are 65-70% utilized), so the equipment needs to be prepared for operation in advance, which is being done now.
At the same time, the strategy remains unchanged: to create a global company with Ukrainian roots based on green and digital transformation of production facilities. This requires high-quality raw materials, semi-finished products and sufficient clean energy sources.
Meanwhile, the large-scale green modernization of enterprises in Ukraine has been put on hold due to an acute shortage of electricity of any origin. However, Metinvest can help develop Ukrainian assets by investing in cleaner production. For example, the construction of a green rolling plant in Italy with a capacity of about 3 million tons of products per year will increase the utilization of the group’s Ukrainian iron and steel plants, which can no longer sell products in Ukraine after the occupation of Mariupol’s steel mills. The Italian plant is to be built jointly with partners in three to four years with up to $2 billion of credit and partnership funds.
In addition, the GOKs that receive orders will be able to modernize their production to produce high-quality pellets. In particular, Northern GOK is currently competing in the European market thanks to its upgraded production of pellets with improved characteristics.
Metinvest’s strategy for transitioning to green steel production long before the war included the conversion of blast furnaces at its steelmaking facilities to DRI (direct reduction of iron) technology. This process requires improved pellets as raw materials. Successful tests of the production of such DRI pellets were carried out at Central GOK at the beginning of the war.
The war has put major strategic projects on hold, but the Group is responding quickly to adapt its investment program to maintain efficient production, primarily by investing in existing facilities that need to be modernized. Since the beginning of the war, Metinvest has invested over $300 million annually.
In 2023, Zaporizhstal and Kametstal overhauled blast furnaces. In addition, Zaporizhstal overhauled its rolling mill equipment and Kametstal overhauled its coke oven batteries. In total, UAH 23 billion has been invested in the modernization of these two enterprises over the past two years.
“Metinvest is also consistently launching new coking coal longwalls at Pokrovskoye Coal Group. At the beginning of the year, the 11th longwall for coking coal production in Block 10 of the Pokrovskoye Mine Administration was launched.
In addition, targeted investments are important. For example, the modernization of the roasting machine in the pellet production shop at Pivdennyi GOK in 2023 helped to establish the production of homogeneous pellets with an iron content of 65%, which allowed the GOK to maintain a competitive position in the European iron ore market.
This year, the company plans to invest $320 million in capital and about $350 million in operating investments in equipment and work sites. The priority is to repair blast furnaces and sintering machines, maintain the GOK’s equipment and develop the mine management department in Pokrovsk.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, including its associates and joint ventures, increased its payments of taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine by 56% year-on-year to UAH 9.9 billion in January-June this year.
According to the company’s press release on Monday, the largest payment is the subsoil use fee, which more than tripled to UAH 2.9 billion in the first half of 2023. The second largest payment was the unified social tax of UAH 1.8 billion, up 19%. The top three largest payments were made in the form of UAH 1.7 billion in personal income tax, up 16% year-on-year.
At the same time, Metinvest’s Ukrainian enterprises paid UAH 1.4 billion in corporate income tax in January-June 2024, up 26% compared to January-June 2023. Land payments increased by 7% to UAH 631 million and environmental tax by 22% to UAH 368 million.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, stated that the group has overcome many challenges during the war, but many challenges are still ahead.
“Our efforts to rebuild our business to operate in the new environment and our ability to turn problems into opportunities have paid off – tax payments are growing. This is our contribution to supporting the economy of Ukraine and the regions near the frontline where the company’s enterprises operate. We allocate significant resources to help the army and civilians, continue to make plans for a peaceful future and are ready to participate in the post-war revival of the country,” the top manager emphasized.
As reported earlier, Metinvest almost doubled its tax payments to the Ukrainian budget in the first quarter of 2024 to UAH 4.2 billion. In 2023, the company paid UAH 14.6 billion to the Ukrainian budget.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are mainly located in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group has spent $209 mln to support Ukraine and its citizens since the beginning of the full-scale war, of which 57% for the army within the framework of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front militarized initiative, 23% for employee assistance, 17% for humanitarian and other projects, and 4% for medical assistance.
According to Metinvest’s presentation at the Barclays ESG Emerging Markets Corporate Day, dated June 26 of this year, the group provided protective equipment to the personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the National Defense Forces and the National Police in support of the military.
At the same time 370 mobile shelters, 150 thousand bulletproof vests, most of which are made with Metinvest armored steel plate, 25 thousand helmets, 2000 thermal imagers and other equipment were purchased and sent to the military. The company manufactured and supplied the defenders of Ukraine with 250 fake military equipment targets, 80 thousand anti-tank hedgehogs and spiked chains, 70 mobile buggies and 5,000 field ovens.
More than 4,900 reconnaissance drones were also sent to the military. To protect Ukraine on the water, the group donated 10 high-speed boats and 800 self-inflating life jackets.
Metinvest’s Ukrainian assets donated 520 vehicles, 100 ambulances and 1.4 million liters of fuel to the front lines. The group also invested in the construction of a mine action center to train specialists in demining areas after combat operations.
As part of humanitarian and other projects, Metinvest, together with other SCM companies and with the assistance of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, in particular, created and finances the “Saving Life” humanitarian aid center with the provision of food and other essentials.
As part of medical aid, the company supplies vital medicines, equipment and consumables to local hospitals. The Group financed the development of medical services and reconstruction of hospitals. Together with the Puls charitable foundation, the group promotes the development of tactical medicine.
Social projects include supporting its employees and their families by providing psychological services, introducing an additional bonus for employees, and developing a program for veterans of the AFU. In 2023, the group’s workforce decreased by 7% year-on-year, with about 6,000 employees serving in the defense forces at the end of last year.
Amid the war, the group has focused on improving safety at work – health and safety expenditure increased by 16% in 2023 compared to 2022.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical companies. The group’s enterprises are located primarily in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the holding. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In 2022-2023, Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group invested UAH 23 billion in the modernization of Kametstal and Zaporizhstal steel plants and the green transformation of the enterprises.
Metinvest’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Oleksandr Myronenko, said during the discussion “The largest wartime investors: a look into the future” at the Forbes Ukraine forum “Money for Victory” that the company’s priority areas for investment in 2024-2025 are employees, equipment and assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“We have three key priorities. The first is our employees. The second is equipment and production sites. And the third is to support the Armed Forces. Especially in the cities where our enterprises are located. These are Zaporizhzhia and Pokrovsk, located 40 kilometers from the front line. We must support the units that defend these cities,” said Mr. Myronenko.
He added that the company’s employees are paid an increased bonus, which reaches 20-50% of their salary, and that starting May 1, salaries were increased by up to 20% depending on their specialty.
Metinvest’s COO noted that in 2024, the company plans to invest $320 million in capital and about $350 million in operating investments in equipment and work sites.
“These are investments aimed at maintaining our equipment: repairs of blast furnaces and sintering machines, maintenance of equipment at mining and processing plants and development of mine management in Pokrovsk,” explained the top manager.
According to him, the company is currently operating at 65%-70% of its capacity. “And we clearly understand that when the hostilities end and the infrastructure is fully restored, we will need to accelerate – at the expense of people and equipment,” he said.
Mironenko added that the company has already allocated more than UAH 6 billion for humanitarian and military support to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war. And now Metinvest is allocating about UAH 200 million a month to build fortifications and support brigades from Dnipro to Donetsk.
“We have a clear strategy for the development of Ukrainian and foreign enterprises. Now it is very difficult to persuade banks to finance any projects in Ukraine. We estimate the full transition of Ukrainian enterprises to green metallurgy within 10 years after the end of the war at about $9 billion,” the COO said.
He also said that the company would not be able to implement such a project on its own and would need to attract external financing. Since this option is currently not possible, Metinvest is considering a joint project with Danieli to build a steel plant in Italy, with an estimated investment of about $2 billion.
“The Ukrainian economy will benefit from the implementation of such a project. We will be producing energy-efficient green steel at a very low cost because we have our own resource – iron ore in Kryvyi Rih. From this point of view, we believe that the Ukrainian-Italian joint venture will be much more efficient than a European-only production facility and will be able to compete with European producers,” said Mr. Myronenko.
Metinvest’s COO also noted that the company’s operations are currently being negatively affected by the mobilization of personnel, as one in six employees is serving in the Armed Forces. “This is a big challenge in relations with the government. And it has a bigger impact on our operations than any commercial disputes,” the top manager stated.
He also emphasized that Metinvest buys equipment, drones, electronic warfare devices, etc. for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are also two proprietary developments that the group has already codified and certified with the Ministry of Defense and will now begin official deliveries. These are corrugated steel shelters and mine trawls that are installed on tanks.
The SSO clarified that the shelters produced by Metinvest are half the price of those currently purchased by the country, and the situation with mine trawls is about the same.
“The second thing we do is to make anti-submarine shelters for equipment. For example, Abrams, which are now fighting in the Donetsk sector, will be completely covered with our anti-water nets, and this will enhance their protection. We are also developing and already installing such shelters on Soviet-made T-64 and T-72 tanks. And there are many other things we are doing to make our soldiers feel protected,” summarized Mr. Myronenko.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions, as well as in Europe.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it. Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
METINVEST, MODERNIZE, steel plants, ZAPORIZHSTAL, Каметсталь
