Metinvest Supports Armed Forces of Ukraine with Crucial Steel Products
Metinvest Group, Ukraine's largest mining and metallurgical company, has been producing steel products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the war in the country. The company's initiative, Steel Front, was set by shareholder Mr. Rinat Akhmetov to do everything possible to help Ukraine win. According to mr. Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group, the company's steel has become indispensable in military everyday life. The steel produced by the company has made it possible to manufacture hardware for the needs of the military. These atypical products for mining and metallurgical enterprises are crucial to Ukraine's victory.
Since the beginning of the war, Metinvest's steel has produced more than 80,000 metric tons of anti-tank hedgehogs and spiked chains against wheeled vehicles, 20 tons of wire rod for minibastions, 300 demining cats, 60 flame arresters, and 126 adapters for fire hoses. Metinvest also produces armored steel for body armor, which is thoroughly checked before being sent to the front. The company provides armor to policemen, combat medics, rescuers, utility workers, and military journalists. In total, the company produced and purchased abroad 150,000 of body armor, or every tenth in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
One of Metinvest's own developments is mobile shelters called "steel hideouts" to strengthen trenches. The metal capsules are immersed one and a half meters underground and can withstand the impact of 152-mm artillery shells. The capsules can accommodate six fighters and have beds, storage compartments, a removable storage floor, a place for stoves, and an emergency exit. There are already 170 such shelters saving the lives of fighters in Avdiivka, Pokrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Bakhmut, and other hot spots.
Metinvest is also working on developing a prototype shelter that can be used to protect civilians. Despite the loss of control over the Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel plants, Mariupol steel continues to work for Ukraine's victory. In Turkey, from the pre-war batch of steel enterprises, the newest corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa was built for the Ukrainian fleet.
According to Mr. Ryzhenkov, "Metinvest's steel has become a reliable support for Ukraine in the defense industry. Therefore, from the first days of the invasion, enterprises that produced steel products for the construction of skyscrapers and bridges before the war began production of a number of military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The equipment, which is provided free of charge to the defense forces of Ukraine, protects and saves soldiers every day and makes their lives easier."