Without the economy and taxes, no one has won the war yet – COO Metinvest

No one has ever won a war without economics and taxes. This opinion was expressed by Oleksandr Myronenko, operational director of the Metinvest group, in an interview with Germany’s largest daily newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitug, regarding the work of the metallurgical industry in wartime conditions.

The largest amounts of deductions to the budgets of all levels of Ukraine come precisely from heavy industry, mainly the metallurgical industry. At the same time, in wartime, companies face significant labor shortages due to mobilization, which negatively affects capacity utilization, exports, and tax deductions. Currently, Metinvest lacks about 4,000 employees, that is, a fifth of the required number. Despite this, for the first half of the year, the company paid almost UAH 10 billion in taxes and fees.

«A similar situation is observed at all large enterprises in Ukraine. We try to get around, we ask those who can, to work on weekends, we pay bonuses, etc. But there are areas where, despite all the improvisations, we do not reach even half of the pre-war volume of production,» Myronenko said.

The total number of employees of Metinvest reaches 60,000 people, of which more than 8,000 are on the front line.

«From 100 to 170 employees are mobilized in our companies every month. And it is very difficult to find new people. Millions of Ukrainians moved to safer areas in the west of Ukraine or abroad. Today, many men choose unofficial employment in order to avoid the attention of the military commissars and not to be mobilized into the army. However, as a large responsible company, we comply with the current legislation and hire all men through the military commissions,» emphasizes Metinvest’s COO.

The current mechanism of reservation from mobilization does not allow to cover the needs of enterprises, as it releases only half of the workers.

In the face of a shortage of men, companies are resorting to training women for some traditionally male positions at enterprises. In particular, Metinvest applies this practice in the Pokrovsk Coal Group.

«About a third of our employees are women, and they currently hold some traditionally male positions in the mines. However, it is not about hundreds or thousands of women, but only about dozens. Many professions are physically demanding, and previously women were legally prohibited from engaging in them,» added Myronenko.

As GMK Center reported earlier, as the CEO of Metinvest Yuriy Ryzhenkov noted earlier, the shortage of personnel is the main challenge for the industrial enterprises of Ukraine, because the increase in production is impossible in conditions of shortage of workers. Economic reservation, which officials are currently proposing, will not solve the problem of shortage of personnel, but will only divide the society.