By KYIV. Jan 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PrJSC Pokrov Mining and Processing Plant (formerly Ordzhonikidze Mining and Processing Plant, Dnipropetrovsk region) is in idle time from December 1, 2022 to April 1, 2023.
According to the information of the company, Board Chairman Serhiy Shuvayev, during the final annual meeting with the heads of structural divisions, analyzed the current situation at the enterprise and stated that, given the difficult situation, the enterprise had to become idle from December 1, which should last until April 1, 2023. But such forecasts today cannot be accurate, because they directly depend on the situation on the battlefield, in the energy system and the economy.
"Taking into account the scheduled launch date, we are building our strategic objectives for 2023. Today we have already recovered from stress and look more confidently into the future, while we understand that not everything depends on you and me," the head of the enterprise said.
In turn, in an interview with a corporate publication, the head of the board of directors specified that despite the war, the plant had been fulfilling planned tasks for almost 10 months.
"If we analyze the production indicators, then the outcrop plan was fulfilled by 90%, for extraction of ore to the warehouse – by 88%, for the stripping of ore by walking excavators – by 89%. And this is taking into account the fact that we are forced to gradually stop the equipment in November. Factories have been idle since October 1 due to a shortage of electricity in the unified system of Ukraine," Shuvayev explained.
He added that the power consumption by the plant, in the case of the full operation of the main divisions, reaches 14-15 million MW per month, and without factories – 4 million MW less. After massive attacks by Russian invaders on the country’s energy system, the plant was limited in consumption to 7 million MW – this was not enough for the equipment to work normally. Therefore, it was necessary to significantly limit the work of quarries, first focusing on night time as much as possible, and from December 1, completely stop.
But besides this, in terms of production, the situation was unfavorable for further full-fledged work. Compared to January 1, 2022, the plant increased the balance of finished products by 25%, even though the factories have not been producing concentrate since October, the volume of ore in warehouses has been increased by 11 times. This was facilitated by a drop in production in Ukraine and a significant decrease in sales of the plant’s products due to a decline in demand for ferroalloys and a significant destruction of logistics.
"Given this situation, we simply did not see the expediency of continuing to work, although we did not plan to stop until the end of the year. Plus, attacks on the country’s energy system – all this in combination influenced the final decision to stop the enterprise," the chairman of the board noted.
