Metinvest to mothball Europe's largest coking plant due to shelling
Netherlands mining and metallurgical holding Metinvest B.V. (Metinvest) of Ukrainian businessmen Rinat Akhmetov and Vadim Novinsky began the process of mothballing the Avdiivka coking plant (AKHZ), which is part of the group.
As the press service of Metinvest said, conservation is carried out in order to preserve the lives and health of its employees and their safety. The company also minimized the number of personnel working at the industrial sites of the plant.
Metinvest reported that currently there are seven underground shelters at the plant that can accommodate 2.5 thousand civilians. The shelters are supplied with generators, medicines, drinking water and food in sufficient quantities for a long stay.
Large-scale shelling of Avdiivka lasts for several weeks. There is no water in the city, electricity and gas periodically disappear due to hostilities.
As reported, as a result of a direct hit in a passenger transport, 10 employees of the plant were killed, about 20 were seriously injured. Currently, the wounded are provided with all the necessary assistance in the Avdiivka city hospital.
AKHZ is the largest coking plant in Europe, the main coke producer in Ukraine.
AKHZ is part of the Metinvest group, the main shareholders of which are PJSC "System Capital Management" Rinat Akhmetov (SKM, Donetsk) (71.24%) and the group of companies "Smart-Holding" Vadim Novinsky (23.76%).