Metinvest has acquired an additional stake at Ukraine’s Pokrovske coal business, giving it a controlling interest in the latter. The acquisition will help the company become fully self-sufficient for its hot metal production.
Pokrovske coal business is considered Ukraine’s largest coking coal business and comprises of various company’s together. The most significant ones are Pokrovske Colliery and Svyato-Varvarinskaya Enrichment Factory where coal is mined, enriched and sold as coking coal. Last year, the Pokrovske coal business mined 55pc more raw coal amounting to 6.2mn mt from 2018 and produced 39pc more coking coal amounting to 8mn mt compared to 2018.
Metinvest had already acquired a 24.77pc stake in Pokrovske in July 2018 and had an option of buying the remaining 75.22pc after obtaining the required government approvals. The Ukraine based steel maker’s chief executive officer, Yuriy Ryzhenkov stated that Metinvest had witnessed inadequate coking coal supply in the last few years which affected its hot metal production. With this acquisition, the company will be able to improve its efficiency.