News Industry Poltava Mining 1277 13 March 2026
Among the problems facing the company are energy supply and non-refundable VAT
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development has established a working group to address issues facing mining companies. According to MP Oleksiy Movchan, the group’s first meeting was devoted to the situation at Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, which is part of the Ferrexpo group of companies.
The online meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the National Bank of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice, the State Tax Service, industry associations, representatives of the Poltava and Yeristovo Mining and Processing Plants, and others.
The main problems currently facing Poltava Mining are:
- electricity shortages and the cost of electricity for the enterprise,
- non-refund of VAT due to sanctions against the beneficiary, Kostyantyn Zhevago,
- non-refund of foreign currency proceeds from the parent company.
As noted by Dmytro Mospan, manager of legal support for financial activities at Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, the total amount of VAT blocked for enterprises is over UAH 3 billion. According to him, this has hit the enterprise hard, causing a reduction in the working week, social programs, equipment maintenance costs, and mining operations.
At the same time, the State Tax Service noted that it is guided exclusively by the requirements of the Tax Code of Ukraine, and in accordance with Article 200.4, it cannot reimburse VAT to taxpayers whose ownership structure includes persons subject to sanctions.
With regard to cases lost in court, the funds are held by the State Treasury for the enforcement of court decisions. The latter, in turn, cannot transfer them due to Article 200.12 of the Tax Code. The amount remains blocked until the sanctions against the ultimate beneficial owner are lifted. Currently, only one decision on Poltava Mining and Processing Plant has blocked UAH 230 million. The issue of the plant’s ownership structure is planned to be investigated at the next meetings after the report of the tax service representatives.
Another problem for the enterprise is the availability and high cost of electricity, which makes its operations unprofitable. However, the price of electricity is a challenge for the entire Ukrainian mining and metallurgical complex. The issue will be examined in detail at the next meetings of the working group together with the Ministry of Energy.
Oleksiy Movchan also said that Ferrexpo AG owes Poltava Mining and Processing Plant more than $500 million in unrecovered foreign currency proceeds.
«This debt has been confirmed by international arbitration decisions. And these figures have been confirmed by representatives of the National Bank,» he said.
The issue will also be examined at subsequent meetings.
On March 9, Ferrexpo announced the resumption of pellet production at the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant after a temporary suspension announced in January 2026. The restart was made possible by improved availability and cost of electricity from both domestic and imported sources.
As reported by GMK Center, Ukraine reduced its iron ore exports by 8% in 2025 compared to 2024, to 30.99 million tons. In January-February 2026, the figure decreased by 40.9% year-on-year to 3.31 million tons, the lowest since 2023.
