Mariupol metallurgical plants can be rebuilt in 3-5 years using green technologies – Metinvest

It may take from three to five years to resume production at the Azovstal steel plant and the Illich Iron and Steel Works in the city of Mariupol after its liberation using eco-friendly technologies.

Source: Yurii Ryzhenkov, CEO of the Metinvest group, in an interview for the FAQ talks, as reported by the press service of the company

Quote: "If we are discussing Mariupol only, then Metinvest indeed has a vision of how it can be rebuilt. We cannot hope that we will come and rebuild the old Mariupol. We all realise that there were good things in Mariupol, but there were also things we would not like to repeat.

So we need a new strategy for the city, including a new industrial strategy. We cannot just come and say: "Now we will fully rebuild the Azovstal plant. Nowadays, the Azovstal plant is a symbol and a fortress. So we will need to decide, which part of the metallurgical sector should remain in Mariupol, what it will look like, and what the so-called industrial map of the city should look like. Only then should we start rebuilding the city."

Details: Ryzhenkov added that, judging from the photos, the Azovstal plant had been seriously damaged.

Quote: "However, I do not lose hope that we will be able to resume productions in some parts of Azovstal. When the Ukrainian forces liberate Mariupol, when we come there, we will see what we can do about it. We realise that the propaganda of the aggressor is telling stories about the possibility of resuming production at the plant in no time.

We do not think they are able to restore production at Azovstal. I think so far they can only use Azovstal or Illich Steel and Iron Works as repair bases," he said.

"We do not want to restore the old technology, which existed at the Illich Steel and Iron Works and Azovstal, because it is obsolete. Today, the whole world is on its way towards green metallurgy and electrometallurgy, and the rebuilding of our metallurgical plants will be conducted in this vein.

So, rebuilding with the use of new green technologies will require more time, as we will need to build practically from scratch. This takes from three to five years," Ryzhenkov noted.

Background:

• The Zaporizhzhia Oblast Commercial Court has opened a bankruptcy proceeding against Azovstal Metallurgical Plant, which is a part of the Metinvest group.
• The Zaporizhzhia Oblast Commercial Court has opened a bankruptcy proceeding against the Mariupol Illich Iron and Steel Works, which is a part of the Metinvest group.
• 16 businesses of the Metinvest group owned by Rinat Akhmetov and Vadym Novynskyi filed a lawsuit to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia for the damage caused by Russia to the property of the group in Mariupol and in other territories of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.
• Specifically, the lawsuits concerning the Mariupol metallurgical plants were filed by the Azovstal and Illich Iron and Steel Works plants.
• In March 2022, Metinvest stated that the Azovstal plant had been destroyed by the Russian occupiers but that it would be possible to rebuild the plant.
• The city of Mariupol was encircled by Russian troops on 1 March. Since the beginning of April, the defenders of Mariupol were blocked at the Azovstal plant: members of the Azov regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine, members of the navy, border guards and policemen. They pleaded with the world to help them: the navy asked for the "extraction" procedure, and the Azov regiment asked to at least evacuate injured soldiers.
• On 17 May, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Mariupol garrison had fulfilled its combat task, and now the commanders have the order to preserve the lives of the personnel. On 16 May, the evacuation of severely injured soldiers to the Russia-occupied territory started. It was planned to evacuate the rest in several stages. In fact, they have become prisoners of war. The Ukrainian authorities stated that they were planning the swap.
• On 20 May, the Ministry of Defence of Russia reported that all soldiers from the Azovstal plant had been withdrawn and that since 16 May, 2,439 persons, whom the Russians considered prisoners of war, had left the bunkers.
• On 6 June, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that over 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers from the Azovstal plant were held by Russia. He added that the Defence Intelligence was working to liberate them.
• On 29 July, Russian-aligned propaganda media announced the shelling of a penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners are being held. Propagandists claimed at least 53 soldiers were killed.
• The General Staff of Ukraine denied Russia’s allegations that the attack had been launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russia shelled the penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, to cover up the torture and murders of Ukrainian prisoners of war as well as to accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of committing "war crimes."
• The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine believes that the killing of the Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka in Donetsk Oblast was organised by the Wagner Group [a Russian private military company] on the personal instructions of Yevgeny Prigozhin, without coordination with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
• The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) intercepted telephone conversations in which Russian occupiers confirmed that Russian troops were responsible for the explosion in the occupied Olenivka colony.
• Units of the Azov Regiment announced a hunt for all those involved in the mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka on 29 July.
• On 21 September, as part of the prisoner swap with the Russian occupiers, Ukraine succeeded in freeing 215 Ukrainian defenders, including 10 foreigners.
• 118 members of the National Guard of Ukraine, nine border guards, nine police officers, a member of the Security Service of Ukraine and marines were among the 215 defenders of Mariupol who were liberated from Russian captivity on 21 September. Mainly, Denys Redis Prokopenko, Serhii Volyna Volynskyi, Sviatoslav Palamar, Denys Shleha and Oleh Khomenko, the commanders from the Azovstal plant. Moreover, members of the Azov regiment, Mykola Kushch (aka Frost) and Kostiantyn Nikitenko (aka Foks), whom the occupiers wanted to execute, were liberated as well.
• The five commanders of the Azov regiment are in Türkiye under the personal protection and security guarantees of Recep Tayip Erdogan, President of Türkiye. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s agreements with Russia stipulate that they will remain in Türkiye until the end of the war.
• Viktor Medvedchuk, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, and 55 Russian occupiers were taken to Russia after the PoW swap.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!