You're reading: Pinchuk opens nation’s first new steel mill in years

Billionaire Viktor Pinchuk has formally launched operation of Interpipe Steel, the largest greenfield investment in Ukraine so far and first metallurgical plant built from scratch since the nation declared independence in 1991.

Pinchuk, the son-in-law to former ex-President Leonid Kuchma, pumped an estimated $700 million into the Dnipropetrovsk-based plant through Interpipe, his steel pipe and railway business parts manufacturer. 

The mill started operating earlier this year. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych attended an Oct. 4 opening ceremony of the mill and its integrated “Dnipropetrovsk Sunrise” art exhibit designed by Olafur Eliasson. 

Pinchuk hopes the five large-scale masterpieces permanently installed and exhibited within the mill will serve as a “metaphor of the industrial renaissance of Ukraine.” The new mill with its art exhibit is open for visitors.

“When we thought about the construction of a new mill, we had a dream – to create the most up-to-date metallurgical production in Ukraine,” Pinchuk said.  

“But in the course of our work we realized that we are able to do more. And we have created a mill, combining innovative technologies and production culture with contemporary art. This mill is the first and only one of its kind, built for the workers, the city, and society. And for me, the mill is also a tribute of honor to generations of Ukrainian metallurgists,” Pinchuk added.

According to Interpipe, the new mill uses innovative steel melting technologies from one of the world’s top metallurgical equipment producers, Italy’s Danieli.

State-of-the-art equipment and green technology at the new mill will enable Interpipe to replace outdated open hearth steel production, in turn cutting energy consumption and emissions per ton of steel by more than two fold. The mill will create 700 new jobs.