6 December 2012
Yenakiieve Steel (Metinvest Group), in cooperation with the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme and local communities completed two energy-saving projects in the towns of Vuhlehirsk and Yunokomunarivsk. The projects were the first for the UNDP programme Community Based Approach to Local Development in small towns in Donetsk oblast. Yenakiieve Steel contributed a total of UAH 100,000 to the projects.
The second phase of UNDP’s local development programme was launched a year ago. It marked the first time small towns were involved in the project, as European grants have typically focused on rural areas, according to Lyudmila Shinkarenko, coordinator of the Community Based Approach to Local Development (Phase 2) project in Donetsk oblast.
“Having analysed the applications and conditions in these towns, the Programme Committee recognized the necessity of these projects in Vuhlehirsk and Yunokomunarivsk,” said Shinkarenko. “However, the key factor in deciding whether to go ahead with these pilot projects was the support of Metinvest, which had become one of the programme’s partners.”
The local communities each submitted applications to the Programme Committee. Those applications were evaluated based on the results of a questionnaire of residents. The Vuhlehirsk project focused on the modernization of boiler equipment at School No. 17, which had gotten worn out after 40 years of use. Thanks to the project, modern energy-efficient boilers were installed at the school at a total cost of UAH 309,000.
Yunokomunarivsk residents asked for the windows to be replaced at Kindergarten No. 51. The original wooden windows, installed when the building was built in 1972, had rotted out, resulting in low temperatures in bedrooms and playrooms during the winter. The old windows were replaced with new glass units at a total cost of UAH 220,000.
The social organisations Yunkom, Development Fund of Vuhlehirsk and town officials participated in the projects.
Nikolai Martynov, the mayor of Vuhlehirsk, and Alexandr Rolenko, his counterpart in Yunokommunarovsk, were both satisfied with the results of the project. According to them, almost 600 children can now study in the warm school and kindergarten thanks to the project.
“Metinvest is always interested in projects to improve the life of people in towns where the company operates,” said Alexander Podkorytov, General Director of PJSC Yenakiieve Steel. “It was particularly important that four parties were involved in the project – the government, business, the community and international organisations.”
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UNDP’s Community Based Approach to Local Development programme has been active in Ukraine since 2008, with the support of the European Union. Participants in the project receive financing for socially important projects with 5% of total financing provided by the community, 45% by the town or settlement council, and 50% by project partners, including social and business participants.
PJSC Yenakiieve Steel, which includes Yenakiieve Iron and Steel Works and its Makiivka branch, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of square billet. The enterprise produces cast billet, rods, bars and rolled products (beams, channel bars, angles, etc.). Yenakiieve Steel is the only manufacturer of guide sections for lifts in Ukraine. Yenakiieve Steel has two of the most state-of-the-art blast furnaces in Ukraine (BF-3 and BF-5) and the first ever continuous casting machines (CCM) designed and manufactured in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Regional Development Ministry named Yenakiieve Steel’s BF-3 the best industrial facility of Ukraine in 2012. Yenakiieve Steel has been implementing three social programmes: “We Improve Our Town with Our Own Hands” in Yenakiieve and Makiivka; the “Town-Works” social-economic partnership with both towns where it operates; and the “Troops for Good Deeds” volunteer campaign. Yenakiieve Steel is part of the Metallurgical Division of Metinvest Group.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies involved in every link of the steel production value chain from mining and processing iron ore, coke and coal; to making and selling semi-finished and finished steel products, including rolled pipe, coils and other high value-added products. The Group has assets in Ukraine, Europe and the USA and a sales network that covers all key global markets.
The major shareholders of METINVEST B.V. (a holding company of Metinvest Group) are SCM Group (71.25%) and Smart-Holding (23.75%), partnering in the Company’s management.
METINVEST HOLDING, LLС is the managing company of Metinvest Group.