Hospitals in Kharkiv region have faced an oxygen shortage since early October, when the primary supplier undertook the repair of equipment, reducing supplies from 40 to 20 tonnes a day. Under the circumstances, the acting chairperson of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleksandr Skakun, approached Metinvest asking for its help in supplying oxygen to medical institutions in the region.
In response, Metinvest was able to quickly develop a schedule for oxygen supplies, according to which hospitals in Kharkiv region will receive 240 tonnes of oxygen between October 18 to October 28. The first 80 tonnes of oxygen have been already supplied to hospitals. Group assets Zaporizhstal, Dnipro Coke and Azovstal are supplying oxygen to hospitals in Kharkiv.
In particular, Metinvest will supply 60 tonnes of oxygen to Kharkiv City Polyclinic Hospital No. 17 and another 60 tonnes to Kharkiv Regional Clinical Early Treatment Centre for Public Radiation Protection. An additional 40 tonnes of oxygen will be supplied separately to Kharkiv Regional Hospital for War Veterans, Kharkiv Regional Clinical Inflection Hospital and Kupyansk Local Medical Association.
Metinvest was also approached by the chief of medicine at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 6, which faced a shortage of oxygen for treating COVID-19 patients. Some 60 tonnes of oxygen from Azovstal will be supplied to the hospital through the end of October.
Metinvest has already supplied 120 tonnes of liquid oxygen to hospitals in Kyiv in October. Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 6, Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 1 and Kyiv Regional Clinical Hospital all received assistance.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest Group:
- We have seen another spike in coronavirus cases across the country since the beginning of October. Therefore, a rapid response to medical needs remains our greatest ally in the fight against the pandemic. It is equally important that local authorities constantly monitor the situation and make quick decisions, as happened in our case. We hope that the speedy response of the authorities and the readiness of business to step up and help doctors in every possible way will help to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, save lives and protect the health of Ukrainians.
Oleksandr Skakun, acting chairperson of Kharkiv Regional Administration:
- Unfortunately, Kharkiv region today has one of the highest rates of oxygen demand in Ukraine. As a result of our work with Metinvest Group’s enterprises, the region’s hospitals treating COVID-19 infections are now fully supplied with oxygen.
Vadym Kryzhevskyi, chief of medicine at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 6:
- We began to experience interruptions in the supply of the required amount of oxygen: the hospital consumes 5 tonnes of oxygen a day. As a result, I turned to Metinvest. Metinvest has answered our call, making it possible to meet our oxygen needs for four weeks. We are very grateful to the Group. This will make it possible to save at least 350 COVID-19 patients who we are treating in our hospital.
By way of background, Metinvest has been supplying oxygen to hospitals in different regions of Ukraine for the second year in a row. From 2020 to September 2021, the Group supplied more than 2,000 tonnes of liquid oxygen and almost 409,000 cubic metres of gaseous oxygen, free of charge, to medical professionals in Zaporizhia, Mariupol, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytskyi regions.
In addition, Metinvest is building oxygen infrastructure at hospitals in the cities where the Group’s enterprises operate. It has built oxygen pipelines, stations and valve trains for pumping oxygen in Mariupol, making it possible to supply around 700 hospital beds.
In Zaporizhia, Metinvest built a new oxygen station at a regional infectious disease hospital that supplies 104 beds with oxygen. The Group is also helping to repair the hospital’s intensive care unit, which was damaged in a fire. An oxygen line to the intensive care unit will be laid from the new oxygen station.
In Avdiivka, Metinvest is building an oxygen plant together with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation as part of its project to fight COVID-19 in Ukraine. Avdiivka Central City Hospital will receive an automated oxygen supply system to provide oxygen to 81 locations.
In Pokrovske, Donetsk region, an oxygen station was opened this summer at Pokrovske Clinical Intensive Care Hospital. The station, built with the support of Metinvest and the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, provides oxygen to the ward for COVID-19 patients.
In Kryvyi Rih, the Group was a partner in providing City Hospital No. 17 with oxygen supply equipment. Metinvest oversaw the installation of equipment and an oxygen line to the treatment buildings.
In total, Metinvest spent about US$6 million to fight the coronavirus last year.
Background information
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies that manages every link of the value chain, from mining and processing iron ore and coal to making and selling semi-finished and finished steel products. It comprises steel and mining production facilities located in Ukraine, the EU, the UK and the US, as well as a sales network covering all key global markets. The management company of Metinvest Group is METINVEST HOLDING, LLC, a subsidiary of Metinvest B.V. Metinvest B.V.’s major shareholders are Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM Group (71.24%) and Vadym Novynskyi’s Smart Holding (23.76%), which manage the company on a partnership basis.
In 2020, Rinat Akhmetov together with SCM businesses, Football Club Shakhtar and the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation were the first to help the country in dealing with the pandemic. On Rinat Akhmetov’s personal initiative, more than UAH450 million was allocated for this purpose as part of the “Fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine” project. This project has helped 1.4 million people to survive the pandemic. It is the largest contribution one donor has made to the public healthcare sector of Ukraine since the country’s independence. Over 500 medical institutions across the country have received more than 1,000 pieces of equipment, including 207 ventilators, as well as hundreds of thousands of rapid tests, personal protective equipment (PPE) and consumables.
Since the start of the epidemic, the Vadim Novinskyi Foundation has spent over UAH100 million to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection in Ukraine. The funds have been used to purchase ventilators, PCR tests and specialised laboratories, as well as PPE for medical professionals. These materials have been distributed to clinics in Donetsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Kharkiv regions. In addition, UAH3.8 million was allocated for the financial support of 31 families of medical professionals who died from COVID-19.