Metinvest Partially Suspends Work Of Kametstal And GOKs In Kryvyi Rih From July

Metinvest Group is partially suspending the work of mining and processing plants in Kryvyi Rih and the Kametstal plant (Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk region) since July due to logistical and economic factors.

This is stated in the message of the group, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"From mid-June, Metinvest began the process of suspending the work of GOKs in Kryvyi Rih and from July 1 completely suspends production at its two mining and processing plants in Kryvyi Rih (including the Southern GOK joint venture), and reduces Kametstal's work in Kamianske to one blast furnace due to logistics factors, rising production costs and falling product prices. From mid-July, production at the Northern GOK will also be suspended. Of the group's mining and processing plants in Ukraine, only the Central GOK will continue to work with reduced capacity," the statement said.

According to the report, this decision is a necessary measure, it was due to changes in the logistics of the mining and metallurgical complex and the high cost of transportation to the end consumer.

"Previously, the group carried out all transportation of finished products by sea. Now the ports are blocked, so we are forced to send products only by rail. Logistics costs rose several times against the pre-war period. Also, stocks of metal products are accumulating throughout the supply chain, our finished products have been in line for months at the border with the EU," the message says.

The decision to suspend the work was also due to the high cost of production of metal products, which is constantly growing due to an increase in energy prices, in particular natural gas, raw materials, and the lack of demand for metal products in the domestic market of our country, which experienced a reduction of more than 2/3 against February this year.

In addition, there is a significant drop in world prices for cast iron and steel, a decrease in demand for metal products and the volume of consumption of iron ore due to a decrease in the production of metal products at European enterprises.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Metinvest is considering the possibility of building a new plant in Bulgaria or Italy.

Businessman Rinat Akhmetov filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia for compensation for gross violations of his property rights during the unprovoked military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

In May, Akhmetov said that the pre-war capitalization of the affected and destroyed assets of System Capital Management was USD 20 billion.

In the fall of 2021, the enterprises included in the Metinvest group decided to pay their shareholders UAH 26.7 billion of dividends.

The main shareholders of the Metinvest group are SCM (71.24%) and Smart Holding group (23.76%), which take part in the management of Metinvest on a partnership basis.

100% of SCM shares belong to businessman Rinat Akhmetov.