Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP, Dnipropetrovsk region) in January-March of this year increased its output by 15.5% compared to the same period last year, to 148,930 tonnes.
As the Ukrainian Association of Producers of Ferroalloys and Other Electrometallurgical Products (UkrFA) told Interfax-Ukraine, over three months NFP increased production of silicon manganese by 22.7%, to 143,480 tonnes, but reduced ferromanganese and other ferroalloys – by 54.7%, to 5,450 tonnes (including 4,970 tonnes of ferromanganese).
Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant is Ukraine’s largest ferroalloy smelter. It uses imported and domestic raw materials for production of ferroalloys.
Nikopol plant is controlled by EastOne Group, established in autumn 2007 as a result of restructuring of Interpipe Group, and Privat Group, both based in Dnipro.
Production of beer in Ukraine in January-March 2022 decreased by 49.9% compared to the same period in 2021, to 17.1 million decalitres.
According to the Ukrpyvo branch organization of breweries, at the same time, malt production in the first quarter decreased by 40.8% – to 32,800 tonnes.
The organization’s website does not contain data on beer production for February 2022. At the same time, it is indicated that in January of this year, 9.4 million decalitres were produced, 55% of production volumes for the first quarter of 2022.
As reported, in 2021 Ukraine produced 5% less beer compared to 2020 – 170.5 million decalitres, and in 2020 its production decreased by 0.4% compared to 2019 – to 179.7 million decalitres.
Malt production in 2021 amounted to 218,500 tonnes, which is 19.5% less than in 2020. At the same time, the year before last, its production decreased by 18% compared to 2019, to 275,000 tonnes.
PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) has resumed production and begins shipping to foreign consumers thanks to cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia and attention to the enterprise from the government of the country.
According to head of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin, the railway continues to work according to the schedule, and now ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is joining the work on schedule, which resumes work and launches the first furnace.
“Together with the railway team today at the plant we are meeting the first tonne of commercial pig iron. Let me remind you that three weeks ago, together with Minister of Infrastructure (Oleksandr) Kubrakov and First Deputy Prime Minister (Yulia) Svyrydenko, we were already in Kryvy Rih and we discussed with the management of the steel plant how the railway can help launch the plant. I am glad to be with the team of the steel plant at such a historic moment today. Let me remind you that the last time the Kryvy Rih iron and steel works was launched immediately after the Second World War,” the head of Ukrzaliznytsia wrote.
At the same time, he noted that the workers of the metallurgical plant receive work, “and, therefore, wages, the economy – taxes, and the railway – the same tonne of cargo that we have always fought for.”
In turn, General Director of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih Mauro Longobardo, in an interview with the Kryvy Rih television company, noted that after the suspension of the enterprise’s activities due to hostilities, work in the mining sector continued at 30% of normal capacity. At the same time, work was suspended in the underground mine of the plant due to fear of a sudden power outage.
The Milk Alliance group of companies producing dairy products under the Yahotynske brand continues to work as usual, co-owner of the holding Oleksandr Derkach wrote on the holding’s Facebook page.
“Milk Alliance works for you. Normally. Even today. Yahotynske is and will be on the shelves. Me, my friends in life and business partners, are in Kyiv. I’m sick at heart. Worrying. But panic, it’s definitely not about us,” he wrote on the social network.
Milk Alliance was established in June 2006 as a holding company with a charter capital of UAH 23.5 million and a balance sheet of 99.9% consisting of long-term financial investments.
Ukraine’s largest producer of coking coal, PrJSC Pokrovske Coal, intends to increase production of coking coal by 2024 and process it into coal concentrate by 4.1 million tonnes, Kostiantyn Vialy, director of the coal directorate at the managing company of Metinvest Group, said.
According to him, 2021 was not an easy and difficult year for the company, however, it was possible to achieve fairly high production volumes.
“Albeit not at the level that was planned. We have something to be proud of and, we can say that we managed to create a reliable guarantee of success and stability in the future. Last year we passed a very good investment program for 2022. We are planning a powerful mining upgrade – mine equipment for sinkers. At the end of February, we expect the delivery of two Chinese-made combines. We plan to purchase two more combines at the end of the year. As for the overhaul, one combine has already been received, two more are ready to be sent to the plant,” Vialy said in an interview with a corporate publication.
At the same time, he expressed the hope that a certain breakthrough in the pace of mining will be achieved this year, which will make it possible to significantly increase the “cleaning front” and production volumes in the future.
At the same time, he added that the first suspended battery locomotive is being tested in the mine today – compared to diesel, it does not produce noise and exhaust gases. In the future, it is planned to gradually update the mine transport. This requires considerable investments, but if you look at the issue taking into account the prospects, they will definitely pay off – if not today, then tomorrow.
Answering a question about the problem with personnel, he noted that the shortage of personnel is a problem of the entire labor market, which has been observed for many years.
Speaking about the future of the company, the director stressed that the vision is positive and successful.
“With the support of Metinvest, we are developing production, building new blocks, improving labor safety, the professional level of our employees. Our plans are large-scale. It is important for us to provide intra-group assets that are part of Metinvest with our coal. We plan to reach the peak of mine workings in 2024, which will increase production and produce concentrate in the amount of 4.1 million tonnes,” the head of the coal directorate said.
Oleksiy Kovalenko, co-owner of PJSC Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm (Volyn region), has canceled the license for the production of chicken at this enterprise under the Epikur brand due to disagreements with another co-owner of the company, Mykhailo Dobkin.
“I am withdrawing my Epikur from shelves. Otherwise, your money will increase the threat of war for you! The question is in Mykhailo Dobkin, who recently became a shareholder of the Volodymyr-Volynska poultry farm. Before he appeared I established the production of chicken without antibiotics and any rubbish under TM Epikur under my license and with my “epi-team,” Kovalenko wrote on Facebook.
Earlier, in an interview with Forbes, he said that the brothers Mykhailo and Dmytro Dobkin inherited 33% each in the charter capital of the company after the death of their father Mark Dobkin, after which the shareholders had divided views on doing business. He said that as of the beginning of February of this year, Kovalenko and his family owned 34% of the company’s shares, while Dobkins owned 66%.
“From recent publications and appeals from investigative journalists, I know that Dobkin is no longer just about toxic rhetoric, but about criminal cooperation with the “LPR”/Russia. Not words, but deeds. So cynical in relation to Ukraine that I immediately put an end to Volodymyr-Volynska poultry farm regarding Epikur. At the same factory, Dobkin produces the usual brand – Chebaturochka. I do not influence him, here everyone can vote with their wallet,” Kovalenko said.
He said that the production of chicken meat under the Epikur brand at the poultry farm was stopped.
“With the appearance of Dobkin among the shareholders, I began to take steps not to deal with him. It was supposed to introduce Epikur technologies in other industries and transfer production and supplies. So I’m acting in this way… but I can’t wait in such a situation,” he wrote.
In addition, Kovalenko promised to take factory employees into his team, who will decide to quit or be fired by its management.
Blogger Miroslav Gai wrote on Facebook early February of this year that Mykhailo Dobkin supplies chicken to the territory of the self-proclaimed “LPR” and “DPR.”
“The former mayor takes the finances for his own information campaign from the Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm, which is controlled by the prosecutor’s office. It is the one that the prosecutor’s office suspects of illegally receiving UAH 34 million in budget support. It is the one that transferred poultry for millions of U.S. dollars to the eponymous firm (Volodymyr-Volynska Trade Company) from Kharkiv, which is headed by the way, by a resident of the so-called “LPR,” the blogger wrote on the social network.
PrJSC Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm is a Ukrainian-Dutch enterprise, one of the five largest producers of chicken meat in Ukraine, occupying about 6% of the market.
