Metinvest’s Kryvyi Rih-based enterprises continue to operate amidst a full-scale war. For four years, the team of the company’s Iron Ores has been doing everything possible to maintain production and support Ukraine’s economy, defence and social sector.

Iron will, responsibility and professionalism enable Metinvest’s Inegrated Iron Ore to remain one of the leaders in the mining and metallurgical sector today despite the crisis in the industry and the challenges of the wartime. Last year alone, Metinvest’s Integrated Iron Ore paid UAH5.2 billion to budgets at all levels.

The employees of Integrated Iron Ore work daily to support the country’s economy. Specialists of the plants are implementing operational improvements to enable more efficient operations. Production programmes are being adjusted in line with the demands and capabilities of the production sites. The plants are focusing on resource saving and reviewing their approaches to equipment repairs and modernisation. All of this allows them not only to keep working, but also to plan for the future, especially during such difficult times.

Production

For four years, Metinvest’s Integrated Iron Ore has been operating under shelling and during power cuts. Therefore, to ensure that the mining and processing plants can continue to maintain stable ore mining and production of iron ore raw materials, projects are being implemented at Northern and Central Iron Ores to utilise their own energy sources. Among the key projects at Integrated Iron Ore is a strategic project for tailings thickening at Northern Iron Ore. The company is also launching a project to construct a flotation plant at Northern Iron Ore. The plants continue to maintain key equipment and create safe and comfortable workplaces.

In recent years, one of the key areas of focus is safety training for staff, which is conducted systematically at Integrated Iron Ore. During these drills, employees practise potential negative scenarios related to military threats, so that they can navigate any situation to rescue colleagues and equipment.

Employees

Metinvest’s Integrated Iron Ore remains one of the largest employers in Kryvyi Rih and the surrounding region. Today, over 13,000 employees work at Integrated Iron Ore, supporting the home front, whilst 2,448 Metinvest employees are defending our land against the enemy. Some veterans are returning to their jobs.

The Iron Ore also employs 230 defenders, for whom reintegration and adaptation programmes are in place, offering free training and retraining in line with their preferences and capabilities, considering their health and new specialisations. Veterans also can enrol on preferential terms at the modern technical university Metinvest Polytechnic. The university offers a wide range of programmes – from professional retraining to higher education. 

Metinvest’s Integrated Iron Ore remembers each and every one of them and is grateful to the employees who gave their lives defending us from the war. There are 153 of them. May the memory of their lives forever! Glory to the heroes!

Support for Kryvyi Rih and local communities

From the very first days of the full-scale war, Metinvest’s enterprises in Kryvyi Rih have not stood idly by. At the beginning of spring 2022, a hub was established in Kryvyi Rih at Central Iron Ore, serving as a key point for the Saving Lives humanitarian project, initiated by Metinvest in coordination with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. 

During its operation, volunteers at Central Iron Ore hub assembled 135,000 food packages, including for residents of Kryvyi Rih and the communities of Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Kherson, and other regions. To equip shelters for internally displaced people staying in Kryvyi Rih, 2,500 bedding items and household appliances were provided.

Metinvest’s Iron Ores provide significant support to medical facilities in Kryvyi Rih. From the very first months of the war, deliveries of medicines, consumables and medical equipment were organised for these facilities.

Additionally, with financial support from Metinvest, a CT scanner was installed at Kryvyi Rih Hospital No. 7. Equipment for autonomous power supply was purchased and installed at City Hospital No. 17, and funds were also allocated for the acquisition of household appliances to equip the hospital.

A major project involved the complete refurbishment of the outpatient block and radiology department at Kryvyi Rih City Hospital No. 3, as well as the complete refurbishment of the main inpatient block at City Hospital No. 7.

Since 2022, to support the defenders of Kryvyi Rih and the Ukrainian Defence Forces, Metinvest has donated UAH 102 million in collaboration with the Kryvyi Rih Defence Council and NGO "Nabat Kryvbas", and this work continues. This area of partnership enhances the country’s defence capability and mobilisation readiness by providing military units with all necessary materials, special equipment, vehicles, and consumables for the repair of automotive and military equipment, etc.

Throughout this time, Metinvest, in coordination with NGO "Kryvyi Rih Foundation for the Future", has continued to support communities – in addition to its humanitarian mission, the company is continuing to implement socially important infrastructure and security projects in Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions.  Since 2022, Metinvest has spent over UAH 153 million to support communities.

Veterans’ Policy

Since 2024, with the support of Metinvest and the Kryvyi Rih Defence Council, the Speak Up, Veteran project has been running in the city since 2024, involving veterans of the Russia-Ukraine war, specialists from various social sectors, young people and others. The purpose of these events is to identify the needs of veterans, inform them about available rehabilitation, social, and administrative services, and assist them in accessing benefits and support.

The Kryvyi Rih municipal strategy for supporting veterans also includes the Free Waves rehabilitation project. The methods were developed by the outstanding Ukrainian athlete, World and European swimming champion and Olympic medallist Denys Silantiev. The project's goal is the rehabilitation of defenders, veterans with disabilities, and those suffering from mental health disorders resulting from war-related injuries.