Imports of transformers, inductors and chokes to Ukraine in January 2025 increased almost sixfold compared to the same month in 2024 to $127.9 million, according to statistics from the State Customs Service (SCS).
According to the statistics, in January this year, these products were mainly imported from China – for $116.07 million (90.75% of total imports of these goods), while a year earlier, transformers and chokes were imported from this country for $12.9 million (59.7%). That is, their imports increased almost ninefold last month.
They were also imported from Turkey (by $4.5 million) and the United States (by $1.75 million).
In January 2024, the Czech Republic ($1.9 million) and Italy (almost $1 million) were among the largest importing countries, in addition to China.
At the same time, Ukraine exported transformers, inductors, and chokes worth $2.05 million in January 2025, compared to $1.24 million in January 2024, mainly to Hungary, Germany, and Azerbaijan.
According to the State Customs Service, imports of transformers, inductors and chokes to Ukraine more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, to $596.11 million, while China imported 2.5 times more of them, by $400.48 million.
Metinvest Group’s Kametstal plant, which was built at the facilities of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK, Kamenskoye, Dnipro Oblast), put a T-8 power transformer into operation at the DRZ-10 substation, the main consumer of which is the BOF shop, after a major overhaul in December.
According to the press release, a systematic approach to the renewal of electrical equipment is an effective component of the stable operation of the main production equipment. The power engineers of the Grids and Substations Shop carried out an overhaul and implemented an investment project under the 2024 Program aimed at improving the reliability of the steelmaking process.
The full range of repair measures made it possible to restore all electrical characteristics of the transformer and ensure its stable and uninterrupted operation during the overhaul period. The service life of the equipment has been extended.
An important investment project was also implemented at the filter-compensating device substation – FCD-35 kV, which is consumed by the out-of-furnace steel treatment section of the BOF Shop, namely two ladle furnaces. Its main task was to modernize the switchgear cells with improved insulation characteristics, which largely determine the trouble-free operation of electrical equipment.
“Kametstal was created on the basis of PJSC Dneprovsky Coke and Chemical Plant (DKKhZ) and Centralized Steel Works of PJSC Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant (DMK).
According to the 2020 report of Metinvest Group’s parent company, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owned 100% of the shares in DCCP.
The Cabinet of Ministers has simplified the import of power equipment, including generators and transformers, to Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“We are preparing for winter at all levels. Today we will approve a resolution that simplifies the import of power equipment, in particular generators and transformers, to Ukraine,” Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Friday.
According to him, to do this, the government will actually suspend six technical regulations that were applied to the import and sale of energy equipment.
“Now, a number of these goods will not require a declaration of conformity and marking with a conformity mark,” he concluded.
As part of the restoration of power grids in the territories de-occupied in 2022, PJSC Mykolaivoblenergo installed a new power transformer in one of the region’s communities, which will provide reliable power supply for more than 40 thousand residents.
“The restoration of the power grids almost destroyed by the enemy in the territories of Mykolaiv region that were de-occupied last fall continues. Recently, Mykolayivoblenergo installed a 25 MVA power transformer in one of the region’s communities,” the company said in a press release on Thursday.
According to the company’s acting CEO Vadym Danylkiv, the previous transformer was damaged by massive shelling in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to him, the restoration of the region’s power grids is ongoing, with another power transformer expected to be delivered from a Western partner country in the near future.
The equipment, weighing 76 tons, was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Energy Security Project (ESP).
