Velta Group of Companies with titanium ore mining assets in Novomirgorod (Kirovograd Region) decided to build a plant to produce titanium products using its own innovative technology in the United States instead of Ukraine and the UAE because of the war.
The company’s president, Andrei Brodsky, said on Facebook on Sunday that it has been more than two weeks since he returned from a business trip to Washington, D.C.
“Before the full-scale war began, we, VELTA, were starting to build a pilot plant to make titanium products using our own technology. We obtained a lease on an industrial facility in Novomoskovsk, began repair and construction work and the purchase of equipment. We also received a long-term lease on the territory of a former mine next to our mining and processing facility in Novomirgorod in Kirovograd region and began designing a large enterprise. It has to be a new Ukrainian industrial giant. Everything was stopped by the war”, stated the CEO.
According to him, near the future enterprise “two Russian missiles flew in, right above our mine our air defense shot down another one, there was a threat of a quick breakthrough front”.
In order “not to give high-tech developments to the enemy,” they decided to create the first enterprise for the processing of titanium raw materials outside of Ukraine. “It was a forced and very difficult decision,” said the co-founder of VELTA.
At the same time, he noted that the company had very strong ideas to build an enterprise in the UAE.
But the UAE has taken an unclear position with regard to Ukraine, “Kadyrovites and simply fugitive Russians have created their own almost hub there, and I stopped to consider Dubai or Abu Dhabi as an attractive haven,” Brodsky said. He also noted that he had to reformat his plans concerning titanium products: “Even now I really want to produce purely civilian products. And we are going to do that. Perhaps later… Now the market says completely different things. The world has completely changed with the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
According to Brodsky, it was decided to build the company in the United States, which is Ukraine’s main and reliable ally in the fight against Russian invaders and also the leading leader in technology and weapons production.
PKF VELTA LLC was registered in April 2000. The main activity is the extraction and production of ilmenite concentrate.
VELTA Holding LLC owns 100% of PKF VELTA LLC. The ultimate beneficiaries are three individuals: Andrey Brodsky (60%), Vadim Moskalenko (20%) and Vitaly Malakhov (20%).
Centravis Production Ukraine PJSC (Centravis Production Ukraine), which is a part of Centravis Ltd. holding, is working at full capacity due to electricity supply for production needs.
According to Artem Atanasov, chief sales officer (CSO), in a letter to customers last Friday, Centravis production is operating efficiently after the overhaul of the press line.
“This (last – IF-U) week we got our production up and running at full capacity. Our key equipment is fully energized, the hot shop and the cold shop are running. All equipment is working and production is supplied with all the necessary materials,” stated the Director of Sales.
He also said that the logistics team constantly monitors the safest ways of delivering finished goods. The company has sales offices around the world in Essen, Milan, Krakow, Lugano, Houston and Dubai.
“We are ending this year with good results. “Centravis produced more than 10,000 tons of seamless pipe in 11 months. We paid more than 230 million UAH in taxes for 10 months of 2022. During this year we participated in three international exhibitions and we are proud that we are among the world leaders (in production of stainless tubes – IF-U). We achieved this thanks to the support of our customers, our team and partners,” Atanasov emphasized.
“Centravis is among the ten largest manufacturers of seamless stainless steel pipes in the world. The company’s production is concentrated in Nikopol, which since July of this year has been under almost daily fire from Russian troops.
In 2021 the company has realized a number of large-scale orders for such world companies as Benteler Automotive, LINSTER Edelstahlhandel, Rohr Mertel, Buhlmann Group, Webco, MRC. “Centravis works with such famous automobile brands as BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors. Supplies pipes for nuclear power plants, fresh water storage facilities, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and other landmark projects.
“Centravis is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of seamless stainless steel pipes, founded in 2000. Its production facilities are located in Nikopol (Dnepropetrovsk region).
Centravis Ltd Holding was created on the base of Nikopol Stainless Tube Works CJSC, service and trading companies of Uvis Industrial and Commercial Enterprise Ltd. Its shareholders are members of the Atanasov family.
Centravis Ltd. owns 100% of shares of Centravis Production Ukraine PJSC.
Mining company Rio Tinto PLC plans to create another, larger, plant to process iron ore for subsequent steel smelting, operating on raw biomass instead of coking coal.
The decision was made after the success of the first pilot project implemented in Germany, writes MarketWatch. The project has been running for the past 18 months in conjunction with Finland’s Metso Outotec and the University of Nottingham.
“The results of the first test phase are very promising,” said Rio Tinto Chief Commercial Officer Alf Barrios.
The location of the new plant has not yet been selected.
The steel industry accounts for 8 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, MarketWatch noted. Creating yellow ore processing plants using biomass instead of coal would help Rio Tinto’s plans to reduce emissions.
The investment company BGV Group Management has launched a new plant for the production of crushed stone products in the Zhytomyr region, investments in construction amounted to $22 million.
“Our company BGV Group Management has officially launched a state-of-the-art crushed stone plant. Fully automated, with the latest technological Swedish SANDVIK equipment, mining equipment and infrastructure built from scratch. We did all this literally in the forest, greenfield and during a full-scale war in the country,” said member of the board of directors of the investment company Sergei Voitsekhovsky.
According to him, the production capacity of the plant is 1.5 million tons of rock mass per year. Granite Quarry LLC operates on the basis of the Zherevsky deposit with an area of 63.2 hectares, the reserves of which amount to 46 million cubic meters of rock.
The opening of the plant will create 200 new jobs in the region, Voitsekhovsky emphasized.
BGV Group Management is an investment company of Gennady Butkevich, developing businesses and projects in the mining, processing, energy efficiency, retail and development sectors.
The Eurocar plant (Solomonovo, Zakarpattia region) will resume the SKD assembly of Skoda cars from June 10, which was suspended with the start of Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, the company’s press service reports.
“Skoda AUTO resumes deliveries of Skoda cars to Ukraine in the SKD format. The first batch – 80 models of KODIAQ and KAROQ crossovers has already been shipped, and from June 10 the plant resumes operation,” the company’s Facebook page says.
The company notes that the growth in production will directly depend on the development of the war in Ukraine. The vacant premises of the plant will continue to serve as a center for temporary displaced persons.
The message reminds that SKD assembly (Semi Knocked Down) means that the power unit (engine, gearbox, front axle), rear axle, wheels, exhaust, and driveshaft for 4×4 models are dismantled from finished cars. The main components, together with the body, are sent for reassembly to a factory in Ukraine.
The company also reminds that a stable supply of original spare parts, accessories and engine oils to Skoda service centers in Ukraine has already been established.
The Eurocar plant, which is part of the Atoll Holding group of companies, the official manufacturer of Skoda cars in Ukraine, began producing cars in 2001, investments in its creation amounted to $ 250 million. Capacities for small-scale assembly of cars were created, buildings for welding and painting shops were built.
The Austrian-based Head Group has received permission from the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine to start the construction of the Head Vinnytsia plant on the territory of the Winter Sport industrial park, Andriy Ocheretny, the deputy mayor of Vinnytsia, said on Facebook.
“The completion of construction of the plant and commissioning of production facilities is scheduled for December 2022. The company plans to invest about EUR80 million in the creation of production, administrative and storage facilities,” he said.
The deputy mayor clarified that since May 12, 2021, preparatory work on the land plot continued at the site: more than 100,000 cubic meters of fertile soil layer were removed, reinforced concrete supports were installed for laying a cable power line, temporary connection networks from the substation were installed.
According to the project, the building of the plant will consist of production and storage facilities, an administrative building, a sewing workshop. The production building will house workshops for the manufacture of skis, boots and bindings, as well as warehouses for raw materials and finished products.
The total area of production premises after the commissioning of the enterprise in 2023 will be 43,000 square meters.
Ocheretny noted that, as expected, this plant will be one of the largest Head Group plants in the world and will provide jobs for more than 1,200 residents of Vinnytsia.
As reported, the total area of the Winter Sport industrial park is 25 hectares. The start of construction of the plant took place in May 2021.
Head International Holding GmbH manufactures sports equipment for winter sports, tennis and scuba diving. The company’s production facilities are located in Austria, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, China. The company is present in 85 countries around the world.
