Metinvest Group continues to fully support its employees who have suffered during the war. Recently, Metinvest employees who have lost their homes and whose homes were severely damaged by enemy attacks, and who are also raising two or more minor children, received fresh assistance through the Saving Lives humanitarian project.
Employees of Group enterprises in Italy, the UK and the US have raised funds for the Do It Together Foundation to help their Ukrainian colleagues. In particular, Metinvest Trametal and Ferriera Valsider employees have collected money for their Ukrainian colleagues by organising a charity sweatshirt sale.
Ferriera Valsider
Andrea De Marzi, Ferriera Valsider:
"I made the donation to be as close as possible to Ukrainians amid the dramatic and difficult situation they face. Knowing that my Ukrainian colleagues who lost their homes during the war need basic necessities, it was important for me to contribute to the help Metinvest is providing.”
Massimo Fabris, Metinvest Trametal:
“I joined the fundraising effort in solidarity with our Ukrainian colleagues. We are a single team where everyone is ready to lend a shoulder to each other in difficult times."
Luca Tecchio, Ferriera Valsider:
"By participating in this initiative and helping our Ukrainian colleagues, I felt like a part of a big and united Metinvest team."
Anna Visentin, Ferriera Valsider:
"I am very proud to have joined this initiative and feel even more like a part of Metinvest’s friendly family. The homes of many of our Ukrainian colleagues have been damaged, and many of them have lost their homes altogether, so I hope that our donations will help them solve their urgent household problems."
Andrea Pillin, Metinvest Trametal:
“I joined the initiative to be with our Ukrainian colleagues during this difficult time. We are thousands of kilometres apart, but I cannot keep my distance from the disaster faced by Metinvest employees in cities that are under constant shelling."
Giovanni Arabia, Ferriera Valsider:
"I was very enthusiastic about supporting the fundraising initiative to help my Ukrainian colleagues who have suffered in the war. Their stories make an impression. I really want peace to prevail in Ukraine as soon as possible so that Ukrainians can live, work and fulfil all their dreams again."
Spartan UK
"All of us at Spartan UK have been shocked by this war and the horrors it has caused. It is hard for us to comprehend its consequences for Ukrainians: the loss of homes, loved ones, and the destruction of entire cities. I believe that we must do everything we can to support Ukraine and to help as many people as possible. That is why we have tried to involve in the fundraising not only Spartan UK employees, but also our customers, suppliers and their friends. We know that every pound collected will contribute to supporting our Ukrainian friends and will help Ukrainian colleagues in this extremely difficult time."
Employees from Metinvest enterprises in Italy, the UK and the US were inspired to join this humanitarian cause by the stories of Metinvest employees who were forced to leave for safe regions of Ukraine from cities facing the hostilities, those who lost their homes, were wounded or had their limbs amputated. Metinvest Group used the donations to purchase certificates in denominations of UAH2,000 and gave them to 84 families of employees who confirmed that their homes have been damaged or lost during the war. Each family received four of these certificates to be used for to improve their living situation, totalling UAH8,000. The Group spent over €16,000 to purchase the certificates.
Ukrainian enterprises
Viktor LEMEKH
Electrical fitter at Central GOK’s Kolachevskyi mine
“My family and I consider December 16 to be our second birthday. At nine in the morning, there was a terrible explosion that destroyed half of our apartment and the roof. In the first seconds, my wife and I heard the voice of our eldest daughter coming from the destroyed corridor. She was crying and screaming: ‘Mum, Dad, I love you.’ Panic was replaced by joy that the child was alive. And the hope that we could pull her out on our own. Fortunately, it happened, and together we managed to get out. Outside, we saw that the entire entrance of our house was destroyed. The incident turned our lives upside down, but we were not left to face the disaster alone. Metinvest and the enterprise’s management helped us: they provided us with shelter and financial assistance. My colleagues in the shop are extremely sympathetic and friendly people who have been supporting our family all this time. My girls received powerful help through psychological rehabilitation as a part of the Unbreakable Mum project implemented by Metinvest and its partners. I was also touched by the support of colleagues from Metinvest’s enterprises in Europe and the US through the Do It together foundation. Their help really proves that we are a big family, and they feel our pain. I am extremely grateful to them.”
Yaroslav FEDIUKOV
Assistant Shop Chief for Continuous Improvement of the Rolling Equipment Repair Shop of Metinvest PromService
“On March 2, Zaporizhzhia was shelled, and a Russian missile hit a neighbouring building. The blast wave hit our building, and our apartment was heavily damaged. The front part of the apartment suffered heavy damage. The windows, frames, and soffits were destroyed. To restore the apartment, we need to carry out finishing work, restore the bathroom, fix cracks, and restore the plaster in the rooms. Some of the furniture was also damaged. So, the certificates we received will help us to carry out the repair work in the apartment. I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues who work at Metinvest’s European and American enterprises. Your support is very important and timely.”
Natalia LYTVYNCHUK
Hoisting machine operator at Central GOK’s Kolachevskyi mine
“I am raising two daughters alone. On December 16, we almost lost everything as a result of a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih. It was extremely scary when the walls of our apartment suddenly shook, and glass flew out of the windows at us. We were terrified and tried to protect ourselves, covering ourselves with whatever we could. I will never forget that terrible morning. We survived, thank God, but the apartment was left with no windows. But caring people came to our aid. It makes me feel good to know that there is support and there are people who are ready to help. The humanitarian initiative of Metinvest employees from Italy, the UK and the US clearly proves this. I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this initiative. We will definitely use the certificates to buy something we need, and most importantly, something to keep as a memento of these good deeds.”
Yuliia TSIAPA
(spouse of Dmytro Tsiapa, equipment repair foreman at Kamet Steel’s BOF Shop)
“My husband, children and I moved to Kamianske from the village of New York in Donetsk region. We worked at Avdiivka Coke. When the war broke out, the enemy shelling did not stop, so we had to leave our home. Our apartment was damaged by bombing. It's good that Metinvest did not abandon us in our time of need. Thanks to the company's support, today I live with my children in a city with a peaceful sky and I can do job in line with my profession. My husband got a job at Kamet Steel as an equipment repair foreman in the BOF Shop, and now he serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We are very grateful to our colleagues in Europe and the US who took care of us and raised funds to help us.”
Tetiana STADNYK
Fitter-repairman at Metinvest-Promservice’s Coke Oven Equipment Repair Shop
“I lived with my family in my own apartment in an apartment building in Avdiivka. When the war broke out, we were forced to live in the basement with our children, hiding from shelling. A month later, we decided to leave the city and settle in Zaporizhzhia. After we left, our building suffered three direct hits. The apartment is ruined. But we are not giving up. It is a great pleasure to know that the friendly Metinvest team will not leave us alone in our misfortune, that our colleagues from Italy, the UK and the US are aware of the grief and misery Ukrainians are going through and are ready to help. Thanks to the certificates I received, I plan to purchase bed linen and tableware as a priority.”
Anton BABETS
Charge feeder at Zaporizhstal’s Blast Furnace Shop
“On October 9, I woke up during the night to the sound of explosions. As soon as I managed to grab my son and hide with my family in the corridor, another round of shelling smashed window glass and frames, damaged the refrigerator and the furniture. For a week after that, I lived in a shelter while the house was being made habitable. My wife and my children left Ukraine at that time. At present, I continue to live at home, I have installed new windows at my own expense, and am waiting for my family to return. I have two young sons, so thanks to these certificates I will be able to buy a bunk bed for them. It will be a surprise for them when they return. Any support is very valuable now. For example, I received humanitarian aid from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and Metinvest. I gave it to an elderly neighbour because I also want to help those that I can. I appreciate that my colleagues from Metinvest's enterprises in Europe and the US donated this assistance, and I am very grateful to them. It is not only about money, but also about attention and support, which provides strength in difficult times.”
Oleksiy CHERNIKOV
Repairman at Zaporizhzhia Coke Plant’s Coke Shop
“I moved from Avdiivka to Zaporizhzhia in 2017. My mother stayed there, she did not want to leave her home. Since 2014, Avdiivka had been subject to periodic shelling, including in the yard of our house, but there was no serious damage. However, in March 2022, after the full-scale Russian invasion, a missile hit our house. Fortunately, my mother was at work that night, and that saved her. The enemy shell hit her room, destroying half of the house and the roof. We immediately took my mother to our place in Zaporizhzhia. Now, we don't know what condition our house is in, maybe it no longer exists. According to my information, there were many attacks in our neighbourhood. After the victory, we dream of returning home. Although Zaporizhzhia has also become my hometown, I grew up in Avdiivka, and that's where I’ll live. We will use the certificates to buy a refrigerator. Such support from our colleagues is important to us. Thank you very much!”
Sergiy STEPETSKY
Head of Technical Department at Kamet Steel’s BOF Shop
“Unfortunately, we had to leave everything we had built in our native Avdiivka. A shell hit the neighbouring apartment. Windows and furniture were smashed, and even the front door of our house was blown out by the blast wave. It was a good thing that I had evacuated my pregnant wife and our two children from the city before that. Here, in Kamianske, a new life began, we had another child, I got a job at Kamet Steel. We rent housing, so the certificates purchased by Metinvest with money donated by colleagues from Italy, the UK and the US represent very important assistance for our family in difficult times. We are planning to buy materials for cosmetic repairs in the rented apartment. We thank everyone who took part in the charity initiative and supported us!”
Dmytro Dyatlov
Head of Social Infrastructure Management Area at Metinvest Business Service
"The war first forced our family to leave our home in Donetsk in 2014. That's why we met 24 February 2022 prepared with an emergency bag and immediately left suburban Kyiv for western Ukraine. Later, we saw a video on the Internet taken from a drone showing our former neighbourhood. All the upper floors of the houses were burnt out. That's how we realised that nothing was left of our apartment. The second time around, we survived the loss of our home more easily. I only regret not taking the hard drive with the children's photos and videos, they are priceless, and we will buy all the other things over time. I am very grateful to my colleagues from Europe and the US for their help! We won't be able to use the money to rebuild our house near Kyiv, so we'll use it to improve our everyday life – my wife has long wanted us to have our own dishes in our current home.”
Anastasia MARIENKO
Controller of ferrous metals production at Kamet Steel’s Product Quality Department
“We have been in Kamianske for a year now. We left Avdiivka with my mother to save my life and the lives of my two minor children. We had been familiar with armed unrest since 2014, but we had never seen such continuous shelling before. The apartment was heavily damaged. In general, there were a lot of attacks in this neighbourhood; the primary entrance of our house barely exists anymore. I had worked at Avdiivka Coke Plant for 15 years as a coke quality controller. And I am very grateful to Metinvest for immediately offering me a job in my area of specialty and helping me both morally and financially to settle in the new place. And my husband still works in security at Avdiivka Coke. He is among those who ensure the safe evacuation of people and inventory from the enterprise. And although communications with Avdiivka are very weak now, we get news from him from time to time.
We are now living in a certain peace, but our most cherished hope is that we will eventually return home. I am eager to come back to my plant and I dream of that it will be rebuilt. I am sincerely grateful to my colleagues from Metinvest's enterprises in Italy, the UK and the US who raised funds to help us. We really have a big family where people take care of each other!”
Rostislav Ostroglazov
Leading engineer of Quality Control Department at Northern GOK
“My apartment was damaged by a blast wave caused by a missile strike that took place on December 16 of last year. The enemy missile hit a neighbouring three-storey building located just 50 metres from mine. People were killed there, and the rescue operation lasted for several days as they sorted through the rubble. All the windows in my apartment were smashed. Compared to the destroyed house, of course, the windows were nothing. But the winter was in full swing, so we covered the window openings with temporary materials. The news of UAH8,000 certificates was very unexpected for me. When I found out that these were donations from Metinvest’s employees from enterprises located in other countries, I was pleasantly surprised. I will finally be able to install new windows at home, and my family will be back in our cosy apartment. I am very grateful to our foreign colleagues! Their support is a good example of how war unites people and brings countries closer together. Metinvest's team is a real big family.”
As a reminder, Metinvest Group launched the Saving Lives humanitarian project at the very outset of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. It provides for large-scale, continuous assistance to Ukrainians with food and basic necessities, as well as support for hospitals through provision of supplies of essential medicines and equipment. Together with the Prosthetics Support Project in Ukraine, Saving Lives helps members of the military and civilians who have suffered amputations to regain their full lives. The project also helps mothers and children who have suffered psychological trauma to recover.
The Do It Together Foundation was created to finance the Saving Lives project’s initiatives. Donors and partners from various countries are involved in its work. Over the year of Saving Lives' work, these joint efforts have raised €8.43 million to help Ukrainians, of which more than €2.4 million came from donors. The project has already helped more than 500,000 Ukrainians. Metinvest Group's employees in the countries where the Group has operations are also providing financial assistance to Ukrainians through the Do It together Foundation.
In addition, employees of Metinvest Group's enterprises in Bulgaria, Italy, the UK and the US have launched humanitarian initiatives to support displaced Ukrainians since the beginning of the war. In particular, they have set up children's clubs and organised tours, travels, holidays for children and more.
