OREANDA-NEWS. Metinvest Group created Metinvest-PromService, LLC based on the maintenance departments of Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol, Azovstal, and Yenakiieve Steel. The maintenance departments will be restructured into a single management structure without changing headcount. Work places, salary levels and social benefits will not be affected.

PromService will specialize in the maintenance and repair of equipment at Metinvest's metallurgical assets. As a result, the work planning and management system and the quality of repairs will improve, and the use of maintenance personnel will become more efficient. The merger of different previously standalone subdivisions into one unit will minimize the expenses associated with the manufacturing process.

The specialized unit will allow the company to mostly avoid having to use contractors to do major overhauls and long routine maintenance on metallurgical division facilities.   The company plans to invest USD 2.5 million to develop and enhance PromService's core facilities.

The transfer of employees from Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol's maintenance shops to PromService will commence in June of this year.  Maintenance employees from Azovstal will move to the newly created company in October and from Yenakiieve Steel in January 2016.  All employees will keep their jobs. The restructuring will not affect the headcount and the location of servicing and repairs will not be changed.  If they wish, employees can be retrained and work at other subdivisions of PromService. 

PromService guarantees that its employees will be paid on time and that their level of salary will not decrease. Additional compensation and benefits, including for those sharing positions, will be retained in accordance with Ukraine's Labour Code.   The current work and vacation schedules will be valid following the transfers until the end of the year.  Employees who are transferred from the metallurgical plants will also be entitled to compensation for unused vacation time. All employees will be covered by employer-sponsored medical insurance.   Furthermore, PromService employees and members of their families will have the opportunity to use the resort facilities of Zdravnitsa Plyus, LLC.

Mikhail Rubtsov, general director of Metinvest PromService, LLC:

"The creation of PromService will allow for the use of resources in a more sustainable manner when maintaining the facilities of Metinvest Group's metallurgical plants.  The establishment of Mariupol Machining and Repair Plant suggests that spinning off maintenance functions into separate dedicated businesses helps resolve the issues with the non-uniform utilization of resources and makes it possible to cut expenses substantially and improve labour productivity and quality. Today it is a common practice internationally. Major steel companies have in-house stand-alone servicing subdivisions with highly skilled staff and state-of-the-art technology.  This makes repairs and maintenance cheaper and more efficient.  We should keep abreast of trends to stay competitive in external markets. The new maintenance company will certainly be equally successful as the company will not be short of orders from Metinvest.   It is important to note that employees will keep their jobs and social benefits. PromService's team can count on stable salary payments just like the tens of thousands of other employees of Metinvest Group's enterprises."