Metinvest Group has topped Forbes Ukraine’s ranking of the 202 largest private companies in the country, those that form the backbone of the national economy.
The ranking includes companies with revenues in 2024 of UAH5.5 billion and more, an “entry threshold” up 17% compared with 2023.
Exceptions were made for state-owned companies, intermediaries operating in natural monopoly markets, businesses with fewer than 50 employees and those that had ceased operations as of 24 October. The sources of financial and employee information were the YouControl system, Forbes Ukraine’s calculations and company reports.
The publication explained that out of respect for all Ukrainian soldiers – both those who are alive and those who have fallen – and their families, it does not use the numbers 200 or 300 in its media products.
According to Forbes Ukraine, Metinvest remains the largest company in the country, with revenues of UAH323.2 billion in 2024. The top five of the ranking also includes DTEK, ATB, Kernel and Fozzy Group.
As the publication notes, the war continues to deprive Metinvest of key assets. In 2022, the Group lost Azovstal and Ilyich Steel in occupied Mariupol. In January 2025, it was forced to suspend operations at Pokrovske Coal and the Sviato-Varvarynska Beneficiation Factory, as the front line was too close. Despite this, Rinat Akhmetov’s steel and mining group remains the largest private company in Ukraine.
If three years ago Metinvest lost 90% of its steel production, it has now been left without 3.1 million tonnes of its own coking coal concentrate. For the country, this means a 40% reduction in steel output and a loss of 66% of the coal required for metal production.
Around 6,000 people were employed at Pokrovske Coal and the associated processing plant. The Group is retraining and relocating them to positions at Zaporizhstal, Kamet Steel and the mining and processing plants in Kryvyi Rih.
The suspension of operations at Pokrovske Coal has pushed Metinvest back into loss-making territory. In the first half of 2025, the Group reported a loss of US$58 million, compared with a profit of US$179 million in the same period last year. “Another tough half-year,” commented Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group.
According to Forbes Ukraine, Pokrovske Coal generated an estimated US$400 million in EBITDA a year for Metinvest. Now, the profitability of Ukraine’s steel industry will be influenced by coking coal prices and rising logistics costs.
Throughout the war, the coal division absorbed the largest share of investment. “The coal industry requires constant investment. If you stop investing, production drops sharply,” said Ryzhenkov. In the first two years of the full-scale invasion, Metinvest invested more than US$250 million in the mine, more than in any other asset. In 2024, investment fell to US$50 million, or 21% of total capital expenditure.
How is the Group responding to the loss of the mine? By increasing investment in its other assets. The plan for 2025 is around US$300 million, higher than last year. Key projects include a tailings thickening unit at Northern Iron Ore, gas-fired power generation and the overhaul of blast furnace no. 9 at Kametstal. “We are restoring major investment in Ukraine,” said Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer of Metinvest Group.
At the same time, Metinvest – whose net debt reached US$1 billion at the end of 2024 – is reducing its international presence. The Group is selling the US-based coal producer United Coal. The reasons include geological challenges, depletion of coal reserves, logistics costs and a prolonged decline in coking coal prices.
As a reminder, Metinvest also topped Forbes Ukraine’s 2024 ranking of the 202 largest businesses in the country.
