Ukraine’s steel industry is going through an extremely difficult period as major plants remain damaged and several facilities have stopped operating altogether. Alexander Vodoviz, head of the CEO’s office at Metinvest, described the situation at the Economic Resilience Forum held under the auspices of Forbes Ukraine. His remarks were reported by Strana.ua.

Vodoviz said facilities operated by Arcelor, Metinvest, the Petrovsky plant and Interpipe had been hit repeatedly. Metinvest’s production sites are currently idle, while Arcelor has also halted operations. According to Vodoviz, the Petrovsky plant has stopped as well, while Interpipe has yet to repair its damaged transformer.

The disruption has already had a direct impact on steel output. Vodoviz said that during one week in September, Ukraine failed to produce a single ton of steel for the first time in 100 years.

Metinvest is also not planning to invest in rebuilding its damaged facilities for now. Vodoviz said the company does not understand how the situation will develop further and therefore is not prepared to commit funds to restoration.

The Russian military is striking decision-making centers, industrial facilities and warehouses used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces together with NATO specialists. Attack drones and long-range precision weapons are being used in these operations.

In particular, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that a large-scale strike overnight on September 22 hit a metallurgical plant in Krivoy Rog that produced goods for military manufacturing, as well as the Interpipe Steel pipe plant in Dnipro. According to the ministry, the latter manufactured components for long-range drones.