Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group is considering increasing the production of mine trawls for tanks to clear territories as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces need 100 trawls per month,” said Metinvest Group Chief Operating Officer Alexander Mironenko in an interview with the corporate website.
According to him, the group’s specialists have been in close contact with the military since the beginning of the war and are constantly trying to respond to their needs. “When preparations for the counteroffensive began, we realized the extent of the enemy’s mining of our territory. These are many kilometers of fields mined mainly with TM-62 anti-tank mines. To cross them, other means are needed directly on the equipment.
One of these models, the most common in the Soviet Union, which is most suitable for Soviet-style T-64 and T-72 tanks used by the Ukrainian army, is an analog of the KMT-7 mine trawl. Its production was discontinued, and for some time this trawl was not produced.
“When the offensive began, the military asked us to look at the trophy samples taken from the downed Russian tanks… We made drawings and developed test samples of these trawls. Then we started testing them together with the military to make sure that the design was reliable and would withstand the number of explosions required by the regulations,” explains the top manager.
According to him, the trawls are now being used in many areas. We have delivered 8 units to the military, two more are waiting to be picked up by the military, and five are in the production process.
The trawls are used mainly in Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk. Metinvest maintains the trawls: if they are damaged, we take them away, repair them and install new rollers.
“Together with several teams, we are also considering the possibility of repairing old Soviet models, as they also fail and get damaged. There is a shortage of mine-resistant rollers that are blown up. We have set up mass production, because this is, so to speak, a consumable. Together with the trawl, we are transferring several more sets of these rollers so that they can be repaired very quickly in the field and continue to be used,” the top manager said.
According to him, without expanding production, five trawls are manufactured per month. There are opportunities to increase capacity, but there are not enough people. There are not enough specialists who can help increase production volumes, for example, to 10, 15, 20 mine trawls.
“We are now working with the Ministry of Defense to create favorable conditions and be able to recruit more staff and increase production. In general, the need mentioned by the military is more than 100 trawls per month. This is a need that needs to be met,” emphasized Mr. Myronenko.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The group’s enterprises are located mainly 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 handed over another batch of vehicles and UAVs worth about UAH 12 million to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative.
According to a press release on Friday, Metinvest handed over another batch of aid to support Ukraine’s border guards in their fight against the enemy.
It is specified that the next batch of aid to the military included ten Volkswagen vans and UAVs – five Valkyrie systems, each consisting of two aircraft, and five Mavic 3T quadcopters with a thermal imager.
“The Valkyrie is a complex that is now being heavily used by the State Border Guard Service units both during the day and at night to conduct reconnaissance and adjustments of units. Due to their technical characteristics, UAVs make it possible to operate in areas protected by enemy electronic means and to guide our artillery and assault units,” explained Dmitry Petrenko, a representative of the State Border Guard Service administration, as quoted by the press service.
As for the vehicles, Metinvest managed to find them in Germany. After the purchase, they underwent additional maintenance, all fluids and necessary spare parts were replaced.
“To date, we have handed over more than 50 four-wheel drive beads to the border guards, which are used to patrol large sections of the border. “This is also the fourth batch of Valkyries: in total, we have already handed over about 60 units. Each of these UAVs can cover 100 km, so we can say that border guards are using these “birds” to cover almost all of our borders. Metinvest’s Valkyries are also used in hot areas, such as Bakhmut,” said Oleksandr Vodovviz, Head of the Project Office of Metinvest CEO,
“In total, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Metinvest has allocated UAH 4.2 billion to support Ukraine and Ukrainians. Of this amount, over UAH 2 billion has been spent to help soldiers as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative. The company has donated 150,000 bulletproof vests, 25,000 helmets and helmets, 80,000 anti-tank hedgehogs, 31,500 turnstiles, 1,500 drones, 2,000 thermal imagers, 500 vehicles and 300 special mobile phones.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are located primarily in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovs’k 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.
According to the results of work in January-September of this year, “Metinvest” reduced the total production of iron ore concentrate (IRC) by 23% compared to the same period last year – to 7.513 million tons, increased the production of pellets by 48% – to 3.989 million tons, the total output of coke of coal concentrate increased by 17% to 4.318 million tons.
According to a press release from parent company Metinvest B.V. on the results of operations for the third quarter and nine months of 2023 on Wednesday, in the third quarter of 2023 the output of the total SAM increased by 13% compared to the previous quarter – to 2.766 million tons – due to increased production at all three GZK (Northern GZK, InGZK and TsGZK).
The production of commercial iron ore products increased by 3% – up to 2.180 million tons, while almost the entire volume of these products was produced with a high iron content. Due to the change in the order portfolio in favor of pellets, their production increased by 7% – to 1.434 million tons, while the production of commercial concentrate decreased by 5% – to 746 thousand tons.
In the nine months of 2023, the production of total air defense systems decreased by 23% due to the start of full-scale military operations on the territory of Ukraine at the end of February 2022. As a result, the volume of production of commercial iron ore products decreased by 12% – to 6.220 million tons – due to a decrease in the production of commercial concentrate by 49%, to 2.231 million tons. At the same time, the increase in the production of commodity pellets by 48% occurred due to the reorientation of the order portfolio. Almost the entire volume of marketable iron ore products was produced with a high iron content.
In the third quarter of 2023, the group’s coal concentrate production decreased by 19% compared to the previous quarter – to 1.275 million tons. The main factor was a 36% decrease in production volumes at United Coal Company (USA) mines – to 443,000 tons – due to the cessation of production at Carter Roag mines and a decrease in production at some Wellmore mines. The production of coal concentrate in the Pokrovsky Coal Group (Ukraine) decreased by 7% – to 832 thousand tons – due to a decrease in production due to the deterioration of geological conditions.
In the first nine months of 2023, the group’s coal concentrate output increased by 17%, mainly due to an increase in production in the Pokrovsky Coal Group – by 33%, to 2.426 million tons, as well as an improvement in the quality characteristics of Ukrainian coking coal.
Previously, the financial director of the group, Yulia Dankova, explained that as a result of the war, “Metinvest” lost control over two large plants in Mariupol and suspended production in Avdiivka. These and other challenges that the company continues to overcome have forced the business to restructure in order to survive.
So, first of all, the company provided the opportunity for its foreign enterprises to operate separately, since the vertically integrated structure was broken. Before the war, the Mariupol factories supplied semi-finished products to their rolling mills abroad, and coal concentrate went to Ukraine from the USA. Currently, the assets of “Metinvest” in Italy, Great Britain and the USA operate as independent enterprises. Coal mines in the US have reoriented product sales to domestic and export markets, and rolling mills are buying semi-finished products on the open market.
She also stated that now the group’s industrial enterprises are loaded at 65-75% capacity, and GZK – at 35-40%.
As reported, “Metinvest” according to the results of January-March of this year reduced the total production of iron ore concentrate (IRC) by 62% compared to the same period last year – to 2.306 million tons, pellets by 6% – to 1.214 million tons, the total output of coking coal of concentrate increased by 14% to 1.461 million tons. At the same time, the output of total iron ore concentrate more than doubled compared to the previous quarter – up to 2.306 million tons.
In the first half of 2023, the group reduced the production of SAMs by 46% compared to the same period last year – to 4.746 million tons, increased pellets by 37% – to 2.555 million tons, the total output of coking coal concentrate increased by 25%, to 3.043 million tons. The output of marketable iron ore products decreased by 35%, to 4.041 million tons.
According to the results of 2022, “Metinvest” reduced the production of total iron ore concentrate by 66% compared to the previous year – to 10.712 million tons, marketable iron ore products by 55% – to 7.903 million tons, in particular the volume of marketable concentrate – by 60%, to 4.718 million tons , and the volume of commercial pellets – by 45%, up to 3.185 million tons. In 2022, the group’s coal concentrate production decreased by 11% to 4.959 million tons.
“Metinvest” consists of mining and metallurgical enterprises located in Ukraine, Europe and the USA.
The main shareholders of “Metinvest” are “SCM” group (71.24%) and “Smart-holding” (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
“Metinvest Holding” LLC is the managing company of the “Metinvest” group.
“Metinvest reduced steel production by 43% year-on-year to 1.531 million tons in January-September this year, according to a press release from the parent company Metinvest B.V. on Wednesday, following the results of the third quarter and nine months of this year.
During this period, pig iron production decreased by 46% to 1.344 million tons, coke production by 31% to 948 thousand tons, and commercial coke production increased by 7% to 644 thousand tons.
At the same time, it is noted that due to the outbreak of Russia’s large-scale military aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Metinvest decided to suspend production at a number of its enterprises in Mariupol, Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia, including Azovstal, Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol, Avdiivka Coke and Zaporizhzhia Coke. Later, Zaporizhzhia-based enterprises of the Group resumed production.
As of today, the Group’s Ukrainian enterprises, except for those located in Mariupol and Avdiivka, continue to operate at varying levels of utilization, taking into account security, electricity supply, logistics and economic factors.
In the third quarter of 2023, pig iron production decreased by 10% quarter-on-quarter to 425 thousand tons, mainly due to the shutdown of blast furnace No. 1 at Kametstal for a scheduled overhaul. As a result, steel production decreased by 8% to 499 thousand tons. Over the first nine months of the year, the Group’s iron and steel production decreased by 46% and 43%. The suspension of production at the Mariupol plants from the end of February 2022 was partially offset by volumes at Kametstal.
In the third quarter, the Group produced 159 thousand tonnes of semi-finished products, down 27% quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to higher domestic consumption at downstream stages.
In addition, in the first nine months of 2023, the output of semi-finished products decreased by 26% to 657 thousand tons due to the absence of production at Mariupol plants since the end of February 2022. This was partially offset by an increase in the production of commercial billets at Kametstal’s facilities.
In the third quarter, Metinvest’s output of finished products decreased by 3% quarter-on-quarter to 583 thousand tons. At the same time, flat products production decreased by 27 thousand tons to 267 thousand tons due to a reduction in the order book at the rolling mills in Italy and the UK. This was partially offset by an increase in galvanized cold-rolled coil production at Unisteel Ukraine as the fourth inductor was restarted after being shut down for overhaul in the second quarter.
At the same time, long products production increased by 9 thousand tons to 316 thousand tons, mainly due to an increase in the rebar order book at Kametstal.
In the first nine months of 2023, finished product output fell by 26% to 1.728 million tons. At the same time, flat products production decreased by 666 thousand tons to 847 thousand tons due to the shutdown of Mariupol’s plants. This was partially offset by an increase in hot-rolled plates production at re-rolling mills in Italy and the UK as third-party slab supplies were restored.
In turn, long products output increased by 72 thousand tonnes to 881 thousand tonnes due to the stabilization of billet production at Kametstal and normalization of supplies to Promet Steel in Bulgaria.
There was no output of rail and pipe products as they were produced at Mariupol-based plants.
Coke production in the third quarter decreased by 9% quarter-on-quarter to 299 thousand tons, mainly due to lower coke demand at Kametstal. Over the first nine months of the year, this figure fell by 31% to 948 thousand tons due to the suspension of production at Azovstal and Avdiivka Coke.
As reported earlier, in January-March 2023, Metinvest reduced steel production by 75% compared to the same period in 2022 to 491 thousand tons, pig iron production also by 75% to 448 thousand tons, and coke production by 59% to 318 thousand tons, including a 1% increase in commercial coke production to 213 thousand tons.
In the first half of 2023, the Group reduced steel production by 57% year-on-year to 1.032 million tonnes, pig iron by 59% to 918 thousand tonnes, and coke by 40% to 648 thousand tonnes, including a 7% increase in commercial coke production to 429 thousand tonnes.
“In 2022, Metinvest decreased steel production by 69% compared to 2021, to 2.918 million tons, pig iron by 72%, to 2.743 million tons, coke by 64%, to 1.653 million tons, including commercial coke by 49%, to 811 thousand tons.
“Metinvest comprises mining and metallurgical enterprises located in Ukraine, Europe and the USA.
Metinvest’s major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
In January-September this year, Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, including its associates and joint ventures, paid almost UAH 11 billion in taxes and duties to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine.
According to the company’s press release on Thursday, despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest remains the backbone of the country’s economy.
Metinvest’s Ukrainian enterprises paid UAH 2.8 billion in income tax, UAH 2.4 billion in unified social tax and UAH 2.3 billion in personal income tax in January-September this year. At the same time, Metinvest increased its land payments by 4% year-on-year to UAH 893 million in the first nine months of the year, up to UAH 1.5 billion.
Subsoil use fees (UAH 1.5 billion) and environmental tax (UAH 449 million) became significant sources of revenues for the state and local budgets of Ukraine.
In the third quarter of 2023, the Group transferred UAH 4.6 billion to the Ukrainian budget, which is 15% more than in the same period last year.
In particular, in July-September, Metinvest’s enterprises increased their income tax payments by 28% compared to July-September 2022, to UAH 1.7 billion. Over the same period, unified social tax payments increased by 8% compared to the third quarter of 2022, to UAH 847 million. And the payment of personal income tax increased by 12% compared to July-September 2022 to UAH 818 million.
In addition, in the third quarter of 2023, the group’s companies paid UAH 618 million for subsoil use, up 2% year-on-year. At the same time, land payments for July-September this year increased by 9% to UAH 304 million compared to the same period in 2022, and environmental tax increased by 24% to UAH 146 million.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, noted that at the beginning of the great war, Metinvest faced serious challenges, which the group continues to overcome.
“We had to rebuild our business, create new supply chains for exporting products and change our operating model. All these steps helped the company to survive and remain one of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine. We want to help Ukrainians, the country and the army, just as we have taken care of our employees and residents of the regions where we operate. That is why we continue to work for victory in all areas,” the top manager was quoted as saying.
As reported earlier, Metinvest, including its associates and joint ventures, paid more than UAH 2.5 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine in January-March 2023, more than UAH 6.3 billion in the first half of 2023, and UAH 20.5 billion in 2022.
“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.
Mining and Metallurgical Group Metinvest has managed to balance the number of employees and production productivity, which allowed it to approach the pre-war level of salaries, the company’s CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said, commenting on delo.ua inclusion in the list of five best employers in Ukraine according to the magazine “TOP-100. Ratings of the biggest”.
According to him, the rate of movement of salaries at the enterprises of the group is different, but the company finds opportunities to implement effective motivational systems, so that the income of employees is growing, and the situation in the company is stabilizing.
The top manager stated that the war has crushed Metinvest’s business. The company lost control over metallurgical enterprises in temporarily occupied Mariupol. It also had to suspend operations at its coke plant in frontline Avdeevka. The Group was forced to radically restructure its production activities, create completely new logistics and find alternative ways to export its products.
Another challenge for the company since the beginning of the war has been the mass migration of personnel and tangible loss of their qualifications. A significant part of Metinvest’s employees left for other regions or countries, changed their profession or specialization, or simply cannot work under such conditions. Besides, already more than 10% of Metinvest employees (more than 8 thousand employees) serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the CEO, all this significantly reduces not only the potential of the Ukrainian mining and metallurgical complex in general, but also of Metinvest Group in particular. He emphasized that the outflow of human capital makes it too difficult to maintain current production volumes and restore it in the future, so the company pays great attention to the reintegration of employees returning to work from war.
“The company is deploying maximum resources to support employees. We have to make sure that our people are as safe as possible now, receive decent pay and have conditions for professional development,” Ryzhenkov said.
At the same time, it is noted that the company is interested in ensuring that military and civilians, who gave their health in the fight against the aggressor, return to full life as soon as possible and with the slightest discomfort. “Exactly such opportunities for the victims are provided by the equipment for early verticalization, which is now available in Ukraine thanks to the initiative “Saving Life”, – specified Tetyana Petruk, Director for Sustainable Development and Human Resources of Metinvest Group.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. The group’s enterprises are located mainly in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhya and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), jointly managing the holding.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
