In a rare interview the businessman discusses football, his ownership of the Azovstal steelworks and why he is optimistic about the future.It is the morning after Russia’s heaviest aerial raid on Kyiv in several months. At least 25 people have been killed and, as always, those emerging from a sleepless night are the lucky ones. Rinat Akhmetov meets the Guardian at the end of a paved driveway half an hour from the city centre. Shakhtar Donetsk’s owner rarely gives interviews and his whereabouts have been a subject of conjecture during the war.But he is here in Ukraine, speaking to mark the 90th birthday of a club whose tribulations over the past dozen years have been unmatched. It is also 30 years since Akhmetov, the richest person in Ukraine and arguably eastern Europe’s most influential businessman, became president of Shakhtar. The club has been a labour of love, the straightforward face of a career whose complexities beyond football have been widely documented. Akhmetov’s influence

We are not wasting a single minute on our way to the victory. Over the past week, Metinvest Group's enterprises have been working hard to support the Ukrainian military, help civilians and ensure the country's economic stability.Read more about the events of the past week in Metinvest's traditional digest.1Metinvest supported the Modern Learning Spaces project in academic lyceums of Ukraine2The Baltic states are studying Metinvest's experience in building steel shelters3Metinvest Polytechnic students completed internships at DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia4An art therapy session for parents and children was held at the "Oplіch Hub" in Zaporizhzhia5Young employees of Metinvest Kryvyi Rih completed training on effective interaction6Company pensioners were awarded the honorary title "Metinvest Coryphaeus"

A ceremonial awards event was held in Kryvyi Rih to honour outstanding employees of Metinvest enterprises who have made a significant contribution to their development and growth. This year, the honorary title “Metinvest Coryphaeus” was awarded to 39 company retirees, 11 of whom are former employees of Northern, Central and Inhulets Iron Ore Plants.Over the course of several decades of service, they progressed from young specialists to mentors for entire generations. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of Metinvest Group, representatives of its “golden fund” – experienced and dedicated professionals whose expertise has set a benchmark for thousands of industry workers – were honoured in Kryvyi Rih. The “Metinvest Coryphaeus” project has been implemented for the second consecutive year across all Ukrainian enterprises of the company.“Our new project was inspired by individuals whose work truly merits the highest recognition. These are individuals who have already completed their active

Metinvest Group, together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES), System Capital Management (SCM) and DTEK, has joined the implementation of the Modern Learning Spaces project, designed to create a modern educational environment in Ukrainian academic lyceums. A memorandum of cooperation was signed on 28 May at the Cuboid Museum of Mathematics. The Eastern Europe Foundation has coordinated the initiative.The Modern Learning Spaces project is part of the upper secondary school reform process and addresses the shortage of specialists in engineering, technical and natural sciences. The development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is a long-term investment in Ukraine’s recovery and in strengthening the resilience of industries that are critical to both the state and business.In 2026, the Ministry of Education and Science will allocate UAH 1.9 billion to equip around 250 educational institutions across all regions of Ukraine. The fund

How an Israeli method is helping children in Zaporizhzhia cope with stress.More than two hundred children in Zaporizhzhia have joined the Hibuki Therapy project – an Israeli psychological support method that helps children overcome fears, anxiety, and emotional distress through interaction with a special toy – a Hibuki dog designed for hugging.The plush toy has long paws attached with Velcro so it can literally "hug" a child. According to the method, children project their inner worries onto the pup, and by speaking on Hibuki's behalf, they gradually process their own emotions and learn to articulate them.Over the course of more than a month, 40 educators and psychologists from kindergartens, schools, and non-governmental organisations underwent training in the method before beginning to work with children directly. Among them was Alina Duniamaliieva, a practising psychologist at the Promin kindergarten."When we first introduced Hibuki, we told the children that this little dog had co

Modern mining is about technology, analytics, and the ability to make decisions before work begins underground. During a spring offline intensive training, students from Metinvest Polytechnic worked with mine drawings and documentation, analysed real-world production cases, and learned to "read" industrial processes through the diagrams, plans, and data that mining professionals work with every day.Students enrolled in vocational pre-higher education programmes specialising in mining and oil-and-gas technologies completed a laboratory and training session at the training centre of DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia. The core focus of the intensive training was working with mine drawings and documentation and analysing production scenarios designed to reflect real-world modern industry conditions as close as possible. During the practical sessions, students worked with process flow diagrams, drilling and blasting patterns, mine take development and preparation schemes, and learned to analyse mine l

The Baltic states, concerned about the growing number of airspace violations by Russia, are turning to Ukrainian civil protection practices. Metinvest has already held preliminary talks with governments in the region regarding the possible construction of shelters to protect against drone attacks, POLITICO reports.As drones from the war in Ukraine increasingly stray into the airspace of EU countries and Moscow’s war machine churns out mass aerial barrages, the Baltics are seeking Ukrainian know-how on bomb shelters.According to Ihor Fedirko, the chief of one of Ukraine’s leading defense industry groups, Baltic companies have approached Ukrainian defense manufacturers and civil protection experts in recent weeks to discuss buying bomb shelters.“Yes, it’s true,” Fedirko, CEO and executive director of the Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry, told POLITICO in an interview on the sidelines of the May 21-23 GLOBSEC Forum in Prague. “They are not huge countries. They’re trying to find the

Training on effective team interaction under modern challenges was carried out for young employees from Integrated Iron Ore Plants, Metinvest Business Services, and Metinvest Machinery. Twenty-five employees of Metinvest's enterprises took part in the event. The key question of the training was how to preserve unity, productivity, and humanity during the war and after it. Participants discussed the transformation of teamwork in the Ukrainian environment, advantages of different interaction formats, and practical methods for improving communication. They also discussed real business cases of enterprises that have adapted to crisis conditions. "Since February 2022, Ukrainian teams have found themselves in conditions that no textbook could prepare them for," noted Viktoria IVLIEVA, Lead HR Specialist of Metinvest Business Service. "At the same time, those challenges became triggers for profound changes in the way people work together. Teams became geographically scattered. The business h

Families in Zaporizhzhia came together for an art therapy masterclass at the Oplich Hub community centre.The Oplich Hub community centre held a family art therapy masterclass themed around the warmth of family relationships, support, and shared creative expression. Parents and children created handprint paintings together, engaged in conversation, painted, and spent time together in a creative setting. "Today we will talk about warmth, care, and family connections. We will recall what it feels like to touch each other’s hands with tenderness and love," said Natalia PODKOVYROVA, social educator at the Oplich Hub community centre, opening the masterclass session.Participants were provided with canvases, paints, brushes, stickers, and other materials for their artworks. The masterclass centred on creating a shared family painting ade with colourful handprints.Natalia said: "Let’s create a shared artwork with handprints, bringing together the handprints of both parents and children. Each

Andrii Pidlisnyi has been employed at Zaporizhstal for 25 years. Despite having obtained a pedagogical education, he chose to associate his professional career with the plant’s railway operations. He currently serves as a wagon inspector in the Railway Transport Department.Among Andrii’s daily responsibilities are inspecting the technical condition of rolling stock and wagons, as well as preparing them for operation. Such work requires attentiveness, precision and a high degree of responsibility, as the stable production rhythm of the enterprise depends on the operation of its railway transport system.In addition to his work at the plant, Andrii has been engaged in wood carving for over 30 years. His passion for wood carving began in his youth and has since become an important part of his life.“My first piece was inspired by Taras Shevchenko, the Kobzar of the Ukrainian people – it was a small clay cottage. At the time, I was still just a child – around eight years old. Then, I went o