The winners were determined in two stages. First, Delo.ua readers selected the nominees through an online vote. Then, an expert jury identified the top 30 through an independent secret ballot. The jury included representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine and the relevant parliamentary committee, leading economists, heads of insurance associations and media experts.
The other CFOs in the top five work at Kyivstar, Nova Poshta, AB InBev Efes Ukraine and EVA.
“For me, this recognition is above all about the Group’s efficiency and resilience. Despite all the challenges, Metinvest remains a pillar of Ukraine’s economy: the Group continues to operate and support its people and the state. Over four years of the full-scale war, we have paid roughly UAH74 billion in taxes and continue to ensure stable payments to our employees. To achieve this, we maintain a constant focus on operational efficiency and working capital. At the same time, we are continuing to develop, introducing innovations and AI-based solutions both within the finance function and across business processes more broadly,” said Dankova.
In particular, the Group uses computer vision technology and intelligent document processing in its financial and production processes. Computer vision-based solutions make it possible to instantly read, analyse, classify and even translate documents from a wide range of sources, from scanners to corporate email, without prior training. Meanwhile, the myOCR platform processes up to 40,000 pages per month, saving around 20,000 staff working hours annually.
At the same time, Metinvest continues to meet its debt obligations. Last year, the Group made timely and full repayments on bonds maturing in 2025. This marked the second bond redemption since the start of the full-scale war. In total, since 2022, Metinvest has repaid around US$670 million of debt under this instrument.
Even amid the war, the Group continues to launch new investment projects. Last year, Metinvest secured a EUR23.6 million loan from Deutsche Bank, backed by guarantees from the Finnish export credit agency Finnvera, to build a tailings thickening complex at Northern Iron Ore. The plant also launched a large-scale programme to produce high-quality pellets for direct reduction (DR) ironmaking, a key feedstock for green steel production. The programme comprises two projects: the modernisation of a Lurgi 552-A induration machine and the construction of a flotation beneficiation complex. Once completed, it will enable Northern Iron Ore to produce around 4 million tonnes of DR-grade pellets annually.