Metinvest Group’s Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Works in the Donetsk region suspended operation amid a blackout caused by the hostilities but managed to maintain autonomous power generation for the plant and to heat Avdiivka with coke gas.
“We managed to maintain power generation and to heat the town with coke gas; we are waiting for natural gas supply in order to do this further. A truce has been promised so that the power transmission line can be repaired, but tensions and noise persist and shells are still hitting the town,” the works general director Musa Magomedov said.
The works is trying to continue power generation and to heat water for the population despite a severe shortage of coke gas, the general director said. The third and fourth coke workshops were mothballed but it would take a lot of natural gas to keep the coke batteries warm and to heat the town.
“Like in February 2014, we need approximately 18,000 cubic meters per hour to save Avdiivka and the company and to prevent a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe,” Magomedov said.
The Ukrainian army and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have been exchanging intensive artillery fire in the Avdiivka area for the past three days. The town suffered a blackout on January 29.
The Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Works is the largest enterprise of its kind in Europe. It manufactures 31 types of products, mostly coke for metallurgical purposes. The products are supplied to Ukrainian enterprises and are exported. The plant accounts for 23% of the Ukrainian market of bulk coke.
The plant has suspended operation 13 times since the hostilities began in 2014. It has experienced multiple massive attacks. Over 320 shells have been fired on its territory; 9 workers have been killed and over 50 have been wounded. (Interfax/Ukrainian metal)