The Scale of Commitment
As of early 2025, the figures of employees mobilized into the Defense Forces from these companies reflect the scope of their responsibility:
- Metinvest: Over 8,000 (including joint ventures and affiliates)
- Ferrexpo: 700
- Interpipe: 1,000
- ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR): 2,945
More than 1,800 veterans have already returned to their workplaces within these companies since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The process of return is not merely logistical—it is deeply human and emotionally charged. Businesses are now implementing systematic reintegration programs that extend far beyond employment.
Building a Foundation Since 2014
While comprehensive efforts intensified after 2022, these companies began laying the groundwork as early as 2014, when hostilities first broke out in eastern Ukraine. The programs have since evolved from simple medical checkups to multifaceted reintegration systems.
Interpipe, for example, began with basic medical and psychological support in 2015. Now, it offers:
- Comprehensive medical and physical rehabilitation
- Individual and group psychological support
- Tailored job placements
- Legal aid for issues such as status recognition and compensation
Metinvest launched a large-scale, formalized veterans’ program in October 2023, supported by a robust budget—$220,000 in 2024, with $500,000 projected for 2025. Their system includes:
- Healthcare and insurance
- Psychological programs
- Education and retraining
- Family support and children’s rehabilitation
“Veterans bring discipline, resilience, and leadership. Reintegration is not just a challenge—it’s our opportunity,” says Tetyana Petruk, Director of Sustainable Development and Human Resources at Metinvest.
Facing the Hard Reality of War
Veterans often return with visible and invisible wounds. One such story is that of Oleh Spodin, a former Ferrexpo employee and now a decorated veteran who lost his leg in battle. After rehabilitation and prosthetics, he returned to his company and emphasized the need for respect and human warmth, not pity.
Surveys conducted by companies like Metinvest, in partnership with the Stalevy Charitable Foundation, identified key challenges for returning service members:
- Access to medical and psychological care
- Navigating administrative and legal processes
- Reintegration into the social fabric of civilian life
- Childcare and family support
Healthcare Comes First
All four companies place veterans’ physical and mental health at the forefront of their programs.
- Metinvest has delivered over 11,500 psychological consultations through its Razom support service and offers annual health insurance specifically for veterans.
- Interpipe facilitates in-depth medical exams, rehabilitation at centers like RECOVERY, and access to mental health professionals.
- ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih provides free health services for veterans and their families, plus an extended health insurance package of up to UAH 125,000 per person.
- Ferrexpo spent UAH 470,000 in 2024 on health services, offering full physical and mental rehabilitation to returning employees.
Preparing the Team for the Return
Successful reintegration also depends on how teams welcome veterans back.
Metinvest has developed a series of training programs:
- Heroes Next Door: A distance course taken by 12,500+ employees
- Leadership in Time of War: Targeted at managers, completed by over 1,000
- Veteran Communication Videos: Broadcast across worksites and social platforms
Interpipe has trained its leadership through interactive military psychology lectures, while AMKR and Ferrexpo have run awareness campaigns to ensure psychological safety for veterans upon return.
Veteran Communities and Support Networks
Creating support communities within companies is crucial.
- Interpipe hosts regular mentoring meetups and manages a veterans’ chat for sharing updates, benefits, and legislative changes.
- Metinvest supports in-house veterans’ spaces and local community hubs like the Oplich Hub in Zaporizhzhia.
- AMKR maintains a Veteran Information Channel, works with external support centers, and facilitates a Viber group to support families of fallen employees.
Professional Reintegration and Retraining
Returning to the same job isn’t always possible due to health restrictions. These companies are adapting roles and investing in upskilling programs to match veterans with suitable roles:
- Interpipe customizes schedules, tasks, and training to each individual. One such case involved Ihor, an inspector turned trainer after a health-related job shift.
- Metinvest funds retraining for 85% of working specialties, and veterans can study at Metinvest Polytechnic University. In 2024, 26 veterans enrolled in degree programs.
- Ferrexpo adapts jobs or sponsors retraining and university admission when needed.
- ArcelorMittal University provides certification in over 350 working professions and offers wide-ranging online education tools.
A Long-Term Mission
Since 2014, Ukraine’s iron and steel giants have not only contributed to national defense but have committed to the long-term mission of veteran reintegration. Their evolving programs reflect an understanding that true victory is not just about defense—it is about rebuilding lives with dignity, opportunity, and support.
These companies are proving that veteran-friendly business is good business—not only for morale and social responsibility but for the strength and resilience of their own teams.
Steel Resolve in Wartime: How Ukraine’s Iron & Steel Giants Are Reinventing Workforce Support
As Ukraine continues to navigate the unrelenting challenges of full-scale war, its iron and steel industry — long a backbone of the nation’s economy — is showing remarkable resilience. The sector is not just keeping furnaces hot; it is forging new paths to support its most critical asset: its people.
Despite air raid sirens, mobilizations, and a shrinking labor force, iron and steel companies are demonstrating an unwavering commitment to employee welfare, veteran reintegration, and workforce development. This isn’t just corporate responsibility — it’s national survival.
🔧 Pay Raises Amid War: A Powerful Signal of Stability
In an environment defined by uncertainty, salary increases across the sector send a message of strength and solidarity. Companies like Metinvest, Interpipe, and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih have revised wages across the board:
- Metinvest increased wages by up to 20% in April 2025, targeting skilled, high-demand roles.
- Interpipe raised wages differentiated by market demand, continuing a steady trend over the past two years.
- ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih delivered an average 15% hike and even paid a “13th salary” bonus.
These moves go beyond compensation — they reflect a moral and strategic commitment to maintaining the industrial heart of Ukraine even when the nation is at war.
⚙️ Filling the Gap: Addressing Severe Workforce Shortages
The reality is stark: thousands of vacancies remain open as workers are displaced or called to the front. For example:
- Metinvest seeks to fill 3,700 roles.
- ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has over 1,000 job openings.
- Interpipe needs more than 500 workers, 90% in blue-collar positions.
In response, companies are compressing training timelines, offering internal retraining, and even recruiting individuals with no prior industry experience. Flexibility, speed, and investment in human capital have become strategic imperatives.
🎖️ Veterans at the Core: Reintegrating Heroes into Industry
Wartime brings not only a labor crisis but also a human challenge — how to restore the lives of returning soldiers. Ukrainian steel companies are stepping up with innovative and compassionate veteran programs.
- Metinvest invested $250,000 in 2024 and plans to spend $550,000 in 2025 on veteran reintegration.
- ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has implemented a comprehensive “Return of Veterans to Civilian Life” program, including:
- Coordination centers
- Inclusive job creation
- Psychological and medical rehabilitation
- Reduced bureaucracy for returning servicemen
- Benefits for families of fallen comrades
These initiatives are not charity — they are strategy, ensuring skilled, loyal, and motivated personnel return to rebuild the nation from within.
🎓 Education and Inclusion: Building the Workforce of Tomorrow
The industry is investing heavily in long-term talent pipelines:
- ArcelorMittal University trains over 350 professions and runs the AMU 360 digital learning platform.
- Interpipe funds bachelor’s and master’s programs in technical fields at the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technology.
- Dual education programs, such as New Factory by ArcelorMittal, combine classroom training with hands-on work experience.
- Companies are also actively hiring women and offering them non-traditional roles, promoting gender diversity and equal opportunities in previously male-dominated jobs.
This education-driven model isn’t just about filling roles — it’s about future-proofing the industry and redefining what industrial work looks like in the 21st century.
🌍 No Room for Pause: Investing to Stay Globally Competitive
Even as bombs fall near facilities like Interpipe’s Nikopol plant, investments continue. The company alone spent $83 million during wartime on product quality and new lines to keep serving demanding markets in the EU and US.
“We don’t have the luxury of stopping investments,” said Interpipe. “Our customers are in the EU and the US, and we must meet their requirements or lose them.”
That mindset — unyielding, disciplined, forward-looking — is what keeps Ukraine’s iron and steel sector relevant and respected internationally.
Forging Ahead: How Ukraine’s Steel Industry is Rebuilding Through Imports, Innovation, and Strategic Policy
The war in Ukraine has fundamentally reshaped the country’s steel industry — once an export powerhouse — into a sector recalibrating for domestic resilience, import reliance, and long-term reconstruction. Amid massive infrastructural damage and the loss of key production facilities, Ukraine’s metallurgical sector is not just surviving — it’s evolving.
🏗️ From Export Titan to Domestic Demand Driver
Before the war, 80% of Ukraine’s steel products were exported, serving international markets with semi-finished and finished rolled metal. But now, with cities flattened and infrastructure shattered, domestic demand has surged. The rebuilding process is expected to prioritize construction materials such as:
- Flat and thick sheet steel (including galvanized and painted)
- Rebar and wire rod
- Shaped steel (beams, channels, angles)
However, the shift toward internal consumption comes with a major complication: capacity loss. With the destruction of Mariupol’s steel mills — which accounted for 40% of Ukraine’s steelmaking capability — domestic producers simply can’t meet total demand on their own.
📦 Relying on Imports to Fill the Gaps
The sudden loss in capacity created immediate shortages in essential products like hot-rolled plates, I-beams, and rails. Companies like Vartis and TACT Metal turned to imports to meet demand, especially for products no longer produced locally or not economically viable for Ukrainian mills.
As a result, imports of rolled metal products jumped by 10.2% in 2024, reaching 1.24 million tons, with import share of domestic metal consumption rising to 37.6% — far above the pre-war level of 22.6% in 2021.
Key trends:
- Products like S355 steel pipes and electric-welded pipes are now often imported, primarily from Turkey.
- Low-margin and specialty steel products are typically imported, while Ukrainian plants focus on high-value production.
- Labor shortages and unreliable electricity have further limited domestic output, increasing dependency on foreign sources.
🔁 Domestic Innovation: A Response to Crisis
Despite the setbacks, Ukrainian steel producers are not sitting idle. They’ve launched dozens of new product lines to pivot into both reconstruction efforts and export markets:
🔨 Metinvest:
- 2022–2024: Mastered 69 new products.
- Zaporizhstal: Cold/hot-rolled steel, slabs for export use in the UK and Italy.
- Kametstal: New rebar classes, grinding balls, billets, mine racks.
- Unisteel: Galvanized rolled products for construction.
🔩 Interpipe:
- Developed 200+ new pipe types, wheels, and axles for Europe’s rail and auto industries.
While long products are well-covered, Ukraine remains fully dependent on imports of thick plate and rails, as these require capacities lost in Mariupol.
🛡️ Shielding the Market: Trade Defense Measures
To counter excessive steel imports and protect recovering domestic producers, Ukraine has implemented several anti-dumping measures:
- 2023: Duties introduced on rebar and wire rod from Belarus and coated rolled products from China.
- 2025: Anti-dumping investigation launched against coated steel from Malaysia, suspected of re-routing Chinese-origin products.
While Ukraine has not yet fully exercised its right under GATT’s Article XXI to ban imports for national security reasons, the legal framework is in place.
Some additional points:
- Imports of Russian-origin steel are effectively banned, and Belarusian trade is severely limited.
- China accounts for 10.6% of Ukraine’s rolled steel imports, but restrictions have not severely impacted diplomatic relations.
- There’s rising concern over Turkish and European imports potentially containing Russian steel, prompting calls for further controls.
📈 Post-War Steel Demand: Opportunity on the Horizon
Looking forward, Ukraine’s reconstruction is expected to require at least 2 million tons of steel by the end of 2024 — a conservative estimate tied to partial recovery. This surge in demand provides a strategic opportunity:
“At the core is infrastructure, because everything starts with it. And the most important thing is not just to restore the infrastructure, but to make it better and more modern,”
– Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest
Key government actions needed:
- Stimulate domestic steel demand through public infrastructure investment.
- Ensure balanced trade policy that defends local producers without isolating Ukraine from the global supply chain.
🧭 Conclusion: Building Steel, Building the Nation
As the war rages on, Ukraine’s steel sector is pivoting with discipline, innovation, and strategic clarity. Through a mix of imports, product innovation, and state-supported trade policy, the industry is laying the groundwork for the country’s physical and economic recovery.
Once known as a global exporter, Ukraine may soon become a net importer of specific steel products — but this is not a sign of decline. It is evidence of transformation.
This is not just about metal. It’s about sovereignty, economic survival, and the steel resolve of a nation rebuilding from fire and ash.
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📚 Sources:
- Mission to return: How iron & steel companies promote the adaptation of veterans – GMK Center
- Ukraine’s top steelmaker sees steady production, no need to restructure debt – Reuters
- Ukraine’s steel industry struggles under the strain of war – NPR
- Post-war recovery will support steel consumption in Ukraine – GMK Center