Metinvest has attracted €24 million in foreign capital to modernize Northern Mining

The agreement is the company's first ECA loan since the start of the full-scale invasion

Metinvest Group announced that it had secured a €23.6 million buyer credit facility with a term of 11.5 years for the Northern Mining and Processing Plant in Kryvyi Rih. The loan was provided under the guarantee of the Finnish export credit agency Finnvera. Deutsche Bank acted as the sole arranger and lender, with legal support provided by the international firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

The funds will be used to purchase equipment from Finnish manufacturer Metso Finland for a project to thicken enrichment waste, one of the key areas of modernization at the enterprise.

«This transaction represents a significant milestone for the Group. It reflects our commitment to long term investment in our Ukrainian operations, particularly Northern Iron Ore. Despite ongoing security challenges, we are dedicated to preserving and potentially enhancing operational capacity, supporting workforce and advancing the environmental sustainability of our flagship iron ore asset. We are grateful to our partners for their role in securing the Group’s first ECA-covered loan since the onset of the full-scale invasion. Their unprecedented support extends beyond Metinvest, serving as a broader signal of confidence in Ukraine,» said Metinvest CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov.

For its part, Deutsche Bank emphasized the strategic importance of the deal.

“Deutsche Bank is proud to support our long-standing client, Metinvest, with this important financing arrangement, in partnership with Metso, and Finnvera, to support this strategic project,” said Moritz Doernemann, Co-Head of Global Structured Trade and Export Finance.

Northern Mining is one of Metinvest’s flagship assets for iron ore mining and processing. In 2021, the plant produced about 13 million tons of concentrate and 6 million tons of pellets. In 2024, it will produce 8 and 4 million tons, respectively.

As GMK Center reported earlier, during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 held in Rome, Metinvest presented two large-scale investment projects of the Northern Mining and Processing Plant totaling $1.3 billion. The first project, worth $1.12 billion, involves the launch of DR pellet production, and the second, worth $189 million, involves the thickening of enrichment waste.