How ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih helped the city’s from the first days of the war

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the plamt has been implementing various assistance programs for the city and its residents

Since the first days of the Russian invasion, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has been involved in the construction of defensive fortifications around the city: it has provided equipment, almost 4,000 tons and about 900 cubic meters of necessary materials, 6,000 pieces of concrete slabs and blocks, and anti-tank hedgehogs. When the danger of an attack on Kryvyi Rih had passed, the company donated 26 tons of vegetables and food for the IDPs from its strategic stockpile created for the team in the first days of the war. The company has come to the aid of hospitals and communities in the region and is involved in the elimination of the terrible consequences of Russian aggression. Despite the wartime situation, the company intends to increase production and continues its efforts to protect the environment.

Purchase of ambulances and surgical equipment

In the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, when there was a huge demand for surgical equipment and medicines, AMKR organized the transfer of such cargo to the city. The company’s Polish partners and colleagues joined the search, collection and transportation.

In May 2022, the first batch of humanitarian aid from ArcelorMittal – surgical power tools, antiseptics, suture material, etc. – was delivered to two hospitals in Kryvyi Rih and a medical facility in Novopillya village, Kryvyi Rih district. The latter has a large surgical department where patients from two other communities, Novolativska and Hrechanopodivska, are treated. The equipment and medicines needed by the doctors were sourced in Europe. The cost of the humanitarian aid amounted to UAH 10.5 million.

In the fall of 2022, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih handed over 11 ambulances to the military administration of Kryvyi Rih to operate in areas bordering the war zone. They were intended to evacuate wounded and sick civilians to hospitals in the city and were also used to evacuate the wounded from Kherson Oblast and eastern Ukraine.

The ambulances were delivered from Europe, underwent the necessary maintenance and were adapted to operate in difficult road and weather conditions. The cars were equipped with everything necessary to enable paramedic teams to perform the necessary manipulations. The total cost of these vehicles amounted to UAH 11 million.

Overcoming the consequences of the attack on water infrastructure

Already in the first year of the full-scale war, the city had to face the devastating consequences of Russian attacks on large hydraulic structures. On the evening of September 14, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a massive missile attack on Kryvyi Rih with Daggers and Iskanders. The enemy hit critical and transport infrastructure. The dam of the Karachunivka reservoir was seriously damaged. As a result of the aggressor’s attack, the water level in various parts of the Ingulets River rose to 1-2 meters, part of the private sector was flooded, and water supply was interrupted in several districts of the city and in the neighboring communities.

The city has been concentrating all its efforts to stop the water and repair the dam, and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has come to the rescue. The plant’s specialists and equipment, including a huge Liebherr crane and dump trucks, were used to overcome the consequences. In addition, the state fire and rescue unit, which protects the plant’s blast furnace No. 9 complex from emergencies, was involved in pumping out water in residential areas. AMKR also provided structures worth about UAH 6 million to repair the dam.

«I was worried not about myself but about my work – how to place the crane, because the ground at the accident site was sloping and the crane should only be placed on a flat surface. But he managed to do it. However, we had to interrupt the work from time to time to move to a safe distance during air raids. In total, we worked there for a week,» driver Sergiy Marchenko, who drives a Liebherr crane and took part in the dam removal work, told the corporate newspaper.

Almost a year later, in the summer of 2023, two large-scale infrastructure projects were implemented to help the city restore water supply after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam. These include the expansion of the Saksahan River intake channel and the creation of a 4-kilometer water pipeline from Ingulets to the Pivdenne reservoir from scratch.

Helping Kryvyi Rih and its residents

AMKR provides its equipment for use by public utilities, as well as slag and crushed stone for road and adjacent areas.

Employees of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih and its subsidiaries whose homes were damaged by Russian shelling can receive financial assistance. This program was introduced at the request of the employees when their homes were damaged by enemy attacks. Documents (inspection reports) were identified to be used as a basis for decision-making, and the relevant amounts were agreed upon. A total of UAH 1.3 million in compensation has already been paid.

The company continues to provide charitable support to the city, surrounding communities, institutions and organizations. Last year, AMKR helped the Hrechanopodivska community in Kryvyi Rih district and the Saksahansk district council in the city with construction materials. Prior to that, in the summer of 2022, the Hrechanopodivska community asked for support with food for those in need, including internally displaced people living in the local villages. The company provided humanitarian aid from its strategic stock.

Last year in February, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih delivered food packages to the residents of the liberated village of Arkhangelske in the Vysokopilska settlement community in Kherson Oblast, including stewed meat in cans, canned tuna, pickled cucumbers, condensed milk, and sweet New Year’s gifts. At that time, the territory of the village had not yet been fully demined, many buildings were destroyed, but people had already returned, including ArcelorMittal Berislav employees.

In 2023, AMKR helped to equip shelters in the city’s schools so that children could start the new school year in full. Last year, a portable elevator was purchased for Kryvyi Rih for physical rehabilitation of military personnel and war veterans at the Palace of Aquatics of the Children’s and Youth Sports School No. 1. ArcelorMittal also assisted Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs in creating a multifunctional tactical camp.

Urgent issues

Despite the difficult wartime conditions, ArcelorMittal continues to implement its environmental program. In the fall of 2022, the company put into operation the complex of coke oven batteries No. 5 and No. 6, which had to be shut down due to the full-scale invasion of Russia. In January 2023, the plant decommissioned its oldest sinter plant, which previously supplied sinter to Blast Furnace Shop No. 1. The main factors behind this decision were the reduction in production due to the war and the commitment to reduce the industrial load in the region.

In 2024, AMKR also plans to commission a new Third Map tailings dump to continue ore mining and safely store production waste after beneficiation. At the same time, the old, currently operating tailing dumps will be completed. PJSC received a permit from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources for the construction of a special hydraulic structure at the end of 2022.