OREANDA-NEWS. Metinvest signed an agreement in Yenakiyevo with Austria-based company Siemens VAI for a detailed engineering of a new sinter facility at Yenakiyevo Steel Plant. SCM's President Rinat Akhmetov spoke at the event.

Dear Mr President, dear colleagues and friends,

Yenakiyevo Steel Plant is 116 years old. It is one of the oldest mills in Ukraine.

We became its shareholders in 1996. What was the state of things then?

The plant produced 1.5 million tonnes of pig iron and 1.6 million tonnes of steel. The average salary was USD 78.

Ukraine was going through a crisis, and so were global steel markets. The plant was to be shut down, and people were losing jobs.

Viktor Fedorovich, you became the Governor of Donetsk Oblast on 14 May 1997, and I remember very well how concerned you were. I remember you earnestly asked me: Rinat, please, don't shut YeMZ down. The plant is very important for the city and for the region. YeMZ is a major employer.

There's a proverb: time is the best judge.

Today is 2013. I want to say we have nothing to be ashamed of and lots to be proud of.

During this time we have invested USD670 million in the plant.

As a result, in 2012 YeMZ produced 2.465 million tonnes of pig iron, and 2.732 million tonnes of steel. The average salary is USD 592.

It means that despite all challenges we are following the right path.

Today we have one key question on the table: clean air. We promised to build a sinter facility, and I want to say that, in spite of all difficulties and the downturn in the global steel market, we will deliver on our promise.

Viktor Fedorovich, I want to say with confidence that people will breathe clean air in the cities where our plants operate – Yenakievo, Mariupol and Zaporozhye.

We just need to arm ourselves with patience.