Because of the war, Artemsil has shut down: Ukraine will have to import more salt from abroad

OLEKSII PAVLYSH - Monday, 23 May 2022, 16:40

Owing to hostilities, the state enterprise Artemsil, the largest salt production enterprise in Europe, halted its activity in April. The stock of finished products was removed in April.

Live Online Radio was informed of this by the Acting Director of Artemsil, Viktor Yurin.

"The enterprise is not operating; in compliance with orders, it has suspended its activity for an indefinite period. Shelling is constant, and the administrative building has been partially destroyed.

"There were direct hits on the mines and the warehouse. The production process is impossible. We don’t want to put people in danger. Moreover, most of the residents of Soledar, Artemsil employees, have already been evacuated. Most of the administrative personnel and engineering and technical workers are not on site", said the head of the enterprise.

According to him, no one at the enterprise was wounded or killed.

Yurin explained that the enterprise shut down in April because it became impossible to ship finished products from Soledar by rail

"Our hub station ‘Sil’, where we took railway trucks off the main tracks, is being shelled on a regular basis. Artemsil is mainly focused on shipping its products by rail.

"We can ship only a small part [of our products] by road. Even under normal circumstances we have to ship the extracted salt in something [in railway cars, - Ed.], and if the railway isn’t working, we simply can’t do that," he explained.

According to him, Artemsil’s stock of finished products was removed in April.

The Director of Artemsil considers that Ukraine will now have to import more salt from abroad.

"In order for salt to be sold, it has to be produced. [Our salt] can certainly be found in some shops. I found it in Kyiv and Vinnytsia. On the other hand, there was Turkish salt, Romanian salt… As long as hostilities persist, we will have to replace [our salt] with imported salt," he added.

According to Yurin, even foreign consumers are being affected by Artemsil’s shutdown.

"We were the largest salt production enterprise in Europe. Our regular customers included Hungary, Poland, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Romania," added Yurin.

Ekonomichna Pravda