Dmytro Lyppa, the General Director of Metinvest Group's Kamet Steel, talked in an interview with journalists from Ukraine 24 TV channel about the company's role in supporting the economy of the country, the prospects for the restoration of metallurgical production and assistance to temporarily displaced citizens.
Due to the Russian Federation’s military aggression, millions of Ukrainians have lost their homes and jobs. People are trying to move away from the area of armed conflict to places where life is still relatively peaceful, in particular to Kamianske. Today, the city has become a centre of refuge for internally displaced persons. There is housing, protection and, for many, the prospect of getting a job at Metinvest's metallurgical enterprises. After all, since the beginning of the war, Kamet Steel has been operating at 100% capacity, remaining a reliable partner for citizens and for Ukraine."
- We understand that the business is functioning as normal. Of course, there is an element of uncertainty or risk, but there is long-term planning, the development of the enterprise. The war changed all that. In such a situation, you need to reorient yourself very quickly. What is the enterprise aiming for now?
- Today, the planning horizon is very short. We plan the operations for a period of six to eight weeks. First of all, we must pay attention to the supply of the necessary inventory to ensure a continuous production process. Today, we spent almost the entire working day with the unit heads in order to consider, step-by-step, what materials we use in our production, which of them we can get and which we lost due to the fact that this is a combat zone or some contractors cannot meet our needs. Today, we are operating at 100% of our capacity, and it is the supply that is an important element of the work. By the way, I have repeatedly said: Please, all of our contractors and suppliers, go to work. We are operating and making orders to make our production work.
Metinvest Group's Zaporizhia site is also undergoing positive changes: the Zaporizhia Foundry and Mechanical Plant and Zaporizhia Coke Plant have resumed their operations. And all of these production facilities also need support from our traditional or alternative suppliers. Moreover, the procurement procedure is now very simplified in order to quickly reach agreement and ensure the necessary supply of goods and materials.
- Do you think that after the war you will have more customers or orders, given the changes in European market with the closure of Russian supplies?
- We understand and plan that, after the victory, we will have closer relations with our customers, both internationally and domestically. First of all, we will focus on the recovery of our country. Because we produce goods for the construction and repair of infrastructure, we will have to work hard to meet domestic demand. I believe that investments in our country will be on a very serious scale that has never been seen before. Now we are focused on the fight against the enemy, but we will have to rebuild the country for a long time and give all the resources to this noble cause. Therefore, we believe in the domestic market and in our relationships with international partners.
- Will you produce something for export, and something for Ukraine on a proportional basis, or will the focus only be on Ukraine?
- We have always primarily satisfied the needs of our Ukrainian market, and only then we provided products for export. At the moment, foreign exchange earnings for the country are important for us, because this represents the stability of our currency exchange rate, the ability to work for our company. At a time when the economy is not working at 100%, and most projects have been stopped, right now our focus is on meeting the needs of export markets, but this situation will change. We believe this.
- You continue to work and provide jobs to temporarily displaced persons. How many people are there? How does this process work?
- We are trying to employ workers of other enterprises as much as possible, first of all metallurgists from Mariupol, who are fleeing to Ukrainian controlled territory. I have information that more than 7,500 Metinvest employees have registered using the hotline, and some of these employees are considered to be promising candidates for employment at our enterprise and other enterprises in Zaporizhia and Kryvyi Rih. We are already receiving the first employees, we are engaging them, and I am sure that we will be able to provide work for a large number of people. The main thing today is to find a place for them to live. Because the city of Kamianske and Dnipro are areas where we have a fairly large number of displaced people from the northeast (Kharkiv, Sumy), and now we have a wave of people from Mariupol and Donetsk region. Now, the big problem is to provide them with accommodation, and we will find jobs for them.
- IDPs come with their families. How do you help organise their lives?
- We are now relocating people to company dormitories that we have brought into proper condition, families are settling into the rooms. Our volunteers are assisting, the youth organisation of Kamet Steel is very active. We have collected a large amount of humanitarian aid, more than 1,250 kilogrammes. These are items, household appliances that we provide to IDPs. Our youth leaders have even set up a kids room. While parents are going about their business and arranging their lives, children can be entertained and psychologists work with them. This allows both parents and children to feel cared for, to feel themselves being in a circle of friends and people who wish them only the best. It is in this context that we plan to develop our relationships with colleagues who are IDPs who left Mariupol and turned to us for help with accommodation and employment..
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