ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih was visited by Stephen Douglas, OSCE observer (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Ukraine. This is the first visit of a representative of the OSCE special monitoring mission to the plant. Recently, Douglas has been appointed OSCE Coordinator for Economic and Environmental Security in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kirovograd regions. As part of his new role, he arrived at ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih to gather information in relation to environmental security in the region by learning more about ArcelorMittal’s work. The OSCE, the world’s largest regional security organization, works in three security dimensions which are political-military, human and economic-environment.
Douglas met with the management of ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih – the director of the environmental department Liana Maksimenko, the chief legal adviser of the enterprise Artyom Filipiev and the investment control manager of the engineering and investment department Andrei Marinichev. ArcelorMittal’s representatives shared information about investments in the development of the enterprise, the environmental program and its phased implementation, the results that have been achieved since the privatization of the plant and the next steps for its modernization. In addition, Stephen Douglas visited three environmental laboratories of the ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih Environmental Protection Department: an atmospheric air laboratory, an analytical water control and analytical laboratory, and a laboratory where mass concentration of pollutants in industrial emissions and atmospheric air is determined.
Artyom Filipiev, General Counsel, ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih: “Since the privatization of the company, ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih has invested $9.2 billion in the modernization of production (taking into account the value of the asset). At the time of purchase, not a single production unit complied with the requirements of ecological standards of Ukraine, not to mention European standards. Over the 13 years, it has largely succeeded in replacing obsolete equipment with modern, environmentally friendly equipment. But it is impossible to rebuild the plant in one day. Change takes time. The company decided to invest another $1.8 billion in the modernization of production in the next five years, which will reduce atmospheric emissions by 50-55%”. (AMKR/Ukrainian metal)