Metinvest has allocated UAH 1.7 billion for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the population

About 126,000 Ukrainians have already received humanitarian aid from the group

From the first days of the war, the Rinat Akhmetov andVadim Novinsky’s Metinvest group directed its resources to bring Ukrainian victory closer. Every day, steelmakers, miners and repairmen of the company’s enterprises keep a stable defense on their own front – steel. The company allocated more than UAH 1.7 billion for the needs of the army, support of the national economy, assistance to employees and civilians. Press office of company informs about it.

“The Steel Front of Metinvest is a contribution to our common victory and the future of Ukraine. The steel of Metinvest in 100,000 bulletproof vests protects the lives of our soldiers standing guard over the independence of Ukraine. The steel of Metinvest formed the basis of tens thousands of defensive structures, tank hedgehogs, fortifications that help to stop the aggressor. Together we will walk this path to victory, and then together we will rebuild everything that was destroyed,” said Rinat Akhmetov, a shareholder of the Metinvest group.

The main directions of the Steel Front are the Army, Economy, Command and Assistance.

Army

Metinvest is donating modern ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the terirtorial defense, the National Guard, the National Police, the Main Intelligence Directorate (MID) and other law enforcement units. In particular, the defenders will receive 100,000 body armor. Most of the equipment is made from certified special steel produced by Metinvest, the rest is purchased abroad.

The MID scouts have already received about 150 drones from Metinvest, and about 400 units from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military also received about 1,500 thermal imagers, almost 18,000 armored helmets, 27,000 turnstiles and 500 first aid kits. In addition, Metinvest handed over 20 ambulances worth €300,000 to the military medics of the Main Intelligence Directorate, medicines and medical equipment worth almost UAH 21 million to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

About 60,000 anti-tank hedgehogs and 20,000 studded chains against wheeled vehicles were made from Metinvest steel. The company handed over 20 tons of wire rod for the production of mobile bastions and provided about 3 thousand tons of sand and crushed stone, as well as 2.4 thousand reinforced concrete blocks and slabs for arranging roadblocks and protecting social infrastructure facilities.

A separate area is the provision of bulletproof vests and helmets to employees of Metinvest mobilized for military service from Kryvyi Rih, Kamyanske, Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, Avdiivka, as well as employees of utility companies in the cities of presence, which are located near the front line. These categories have already received more than 2,200 sets of body armor and helmets.

Economy

After the beginning of a full-scale war, the company had to restructure the business, find new logistics routes and suppliers of raw materials, so that the group’s enterprises continued to operate as far as possible.

In response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, Metinvest put several of its assets into hot mothballing (in particular, the steel plants in Mariupol and the Avdiivka Coke Plant), which led to the suspension of their production. Businesses and urban infrastructure were shelled. Until the active phase of the war is stopped and reliable communication channels are established with iron&steel plants in Mariupol, it is impossible to fully assess the impact of hostilities on these enterprises of the group.

A separate area is the fight against piracy by the Russian Federation, which is trying to export 234 thousand tons of the group’s steel from Mariupol. Metinvest makes every possible effort to bring the perpetrators and their accomplices to strict legal liability. In particular, the company applied to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with a proposal to impose sanctions against all persons involved in the theft process.

The economic situation is difficult: logistical problems have been added to the increase in production costs, falling prices and reduced demand for products. Black Sea ports, traditional for export, are blocked, and the capacity of railway crossings in the west of the country does not satisfy for the demand for transportation. In addition, Ukrainian railway tariffs remain quite high. Regulatory support from the state can restore the ability of the industry to keep the economic front.

In July 2022, Metinvest suspended ore mining at the Kryvyi Rih enterprises – Ingulets and Nothern GOKs, as well as the joint venture Southern GOK. The Central Mining and Processing Plant is operating at a reduced capacity. By the time of the shutdown, production was loaded at about 40% of last year’s volumes. The Group is making efforts to keep the employees of the enterprises, and will attract thousands of workers to carry out repair work and put the territories in order with maintaining the main income.

At the steel plant Kametstal there is one blast furnace. At the same time, the enterprise mastered the production of two new types of products – shaped profile MP-4 and coal lacquer.

The capacities of the Zaporizhstal plant are about half loaded: the sintering plant, two of the four blast furnaces, and a steel furnace are operating.

The enterprises of Metinvest Pokrovske coal also continue to operate.

To protect the lives of employees whoo are supporting production, Metinvest enterprises have equipped bomb shelters. The shelters have supplies of water, long-term storage products and medicines, as well as communications.

Team

To all employees who were evacuated from Mariupol and Avdiivka to the territory controlled by Ukraine, Metinvest offers comprehensive support. In particular, the company has prepared more than 6,000 places for temporary shelter at its social facilities, provides people with food and distributes food and hygiene kits.

Rehabilitation and reintegration centers continue to operate in Zaporizhzhia and Kamianske, to which more than 1,000 internally displaced persons have applied.

Metinvest helps employees of Mariupol enterprises find jobs. The company offers more than 1,800 vacancies at the group’s enterprises in Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kamianske and Pokrovsk to everyone who wants to leave or intend to leave the occupied city. Metinvest also provides an opportunity to receive free training in the most sought-after working professions with subsequent employment. To do this, the company will open 2,000 places at its assets in Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kamianske and Pokrovsk. The company will provide significant material support to employees who decide to undergo training/employment in the form of various compensations, social benefits, humanitarian aid and guaranteed earnings. Currently, almost 1,000 internally displaced persons have been employed by the Group’s enterprises.

For the company’s employees and members of their families, the Metinvest – Together! service is available, which provides an opportunity to receive free psychological assistance. During the service, more than 500 individual and group consultations were held.

Metinvest also launched a corporate program called Home for Friends. The company offered employees to provide their housing to colleagues for temporary residence. All program participants receive material support from Metinvest – UAH 3,000 for three months. Since the end of April, more than 160 employees have expressed their willingness to help.

Help

The civilian population of Ukraine suffers not only from shelling and bombing, but also because of the lack of access to food, water, essential goods and medicines. To prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, Metinvest and DTEK, in coordination with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, created the Save a Life project.

Since the beginning of the war, about 126,000 Ukrainians have already received aid from Europe. These are forced migrants, residents of de-occupied territories, vulnerable segments of the population, families of mobilized employees of Metinvest and privileged categories of workers, as well as veterans of the group’s enterprises.

In addition to the cities of presence, where distribution centers are located, food packages also go to other regions, in particular, rural territorial communities. In June, a humanitarian cargo with food reached the Kherson region – 2,000 packages were received by the residents of the de-occupied villages of the Kochubeevskaya territorial community, which are still experiencing problems with a stable supply of goods.

In addition to food, the project provides people with hygiene and basic necessities. Also, as part of the Save a Life project, medicines and consumables worth €238,000 were delivered to hospitals in Zaporizhzhia and Kamianske.

According to the medical program from Metinvest, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and the Ministry of Health, hospitals in Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kamianske and Pokrovsk and Avdiivka received drugs and instruments worth more than UAH 65 million.

Despite the hostilities, Metinvest enterprises continue to donate oxygen for the treatment of patients with coronavirus. For six months, Ukrainian hospitals received 1,072 tons of oxygen.

The Vadim Novinsky Foundation has set a goal of delivering at least 100 ambulances to regions close to hostilities. Some cars are already saving the lives of Ukrainians.

Metinvest also helps to equip places for temporary shelters for IDPs. In particular, in June, the company donated construction materials, household appliances and other items worth UAH 2.8 million to the communities of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd regions.