Metinvest’s Avdiivka Coke Facility Damaged By Artillery
07/23/2014 - Metinvest Group’s Avdiivka Coke in Ukraine was hit by artillery as a result of armed hostilities on 21 July 2014.
Several shells hit the enterprise’s core production shops. The storage facility for coal tar, which is used for the production of coal tar pitch, was partially destroyed and the electricity transmission lines that feed the plant were damaged.
Thanks to effective and professional action by shift personnel of the plant and employees from the Ministry for Emergency Situations’ branch in Avdiivka, fires were localized and casualties were prevented. The fires were extinguished and repair work at the damaged sites is underway. It is expected that restoration work will take at least two days. The main task now is to restore electricity supply to the plant in full.
During this time, coke production at Avdiivka Coke will be halved. This situation will not have a significant impact on the operation of the Group’s metallurgical enterprises that consume products from Avdiivka Coke, including Yenakiieve Iron & Steel Works and Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol. The management of Metinvest Group’s Metallurgical Division has developed a scheme for substituting coke supplies from Avdiivka with products from the Group’s other coking facilities, such as the Dniprodzerzhinsk and Yenakiieve coke plants and Azovstal’s coking batteries.
On 22 July, Avdiivka Coke’s employees came to work in accordance with their established schedules. Auxiliary functions of the enterprise are operating as usual.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest Group’s CEO said: “We will undertake every effort to return the enterprise to its normal mode of operation as soon as possible. Avdiivka Coke is a chemically hazardous production facility. Incidents at the plant can potentially risk destroying the entire city of Avdiivka. In this regard, it is not important which side did the shelling. In this situation, the consequences of military action can be tragic for all sides in the conflict. The destruction of Avdiivka Coke, which produces 40% of coke in the country, is not just a risk for Metinvest Group. It would be a disaster and catastrophe for the whole metallurgical industry and, as a result, for the economy of Ukraine. Furthermore, if the plant is shut down, it would mean the unemployment of dozens of thousands of people in Avdiivka, Donetsk, Mariupol, and Kryvyi Rih. We once again call for an immediate end to military action and the destruction of enterprises, roads, electricity transmission lines, and pipelines. This can put cities and the entire Donbas on the edge of survival.”
Thanks to effective and professional action by shift personnel of the plant and employees from the Ministry for Emergency Situations’ branch in Avdiivka, fires were localized and casualties were prevented. The fires were extinguished and repair work at the damaged sites is underway. It is expected that restoration work will take at least two days. The main task now is to restore electricity supply to the plant in full.
During this time, coke production at Avdiivka Coke will be halved. This situation will not have a significant impact on the operation of the Group’s metallurgical enterprises that consume products from Avdiivka Coke, including Yenakiieve Iron & Steel Works and Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol. The management of Metinvest Group’s Metallurgical Division has developed a scheme for substituting coke supplies from Avdiivka with products from the Group’s other coking facilities, such as the Dniprodzerzhinsk and Yenakiieve coke plants and Azovstal’s coking batteries.
On 22 July, Avdiivka Coke’s employees came to work in accordance with their established schedules. Auxiliary functions of the enterprise are operating as usual.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest Group’s CEO said: “We will undertake every effort to return the enterprise to its normal mode of operation as soon as possible. Avdiivka Coke is a chemically hazardous production facility. Incidents at the plant can potentially risk destroying the entire city of Avdiivka. In this regard, it is not important which side did the shelling. In this situation, the consequences of military action can be tragic for all sides in the conflict. The destruction of Avdiivka Coke, which produces 40% of coke in the country, is not just a risk for Metinvest Group. It would be a disaster and catastrophe for the whole metallurgical industry and, as a result, for the economy of Ukraine. Furthermore, if the plant is shut down, it would mean the unemployment of dozens of thousands of people in Avdiivka, Donetsk, Mariupol, and Kryvyi Rih. We once again call for an immediate end to military action and the destruction of enterprises, roads, electricity transmission lines, and pipelines. This can put cities and the entire Donbas on the edge of survival.”
