27 April 2016
Avdiivka Coke of Metinvest Group and the Avdiivka City Council signed a social partnership agreement for 2016. Financing of social programs will increase this year to amount to UAH 9.5 million.
The agreement was signed by the CEO of the Metinvest Group Yuriy Ryzhenkov, general director of Avdiivka Coke Musa Magomedov, city mayor Yury Cherkasov and the head of civil-military administration Pavel Malykhin.
Over the five years of cooperation Metinvest invested UAH 43.6 million into the development of Avdiivka. The funds were directed to the repair of schools and kindergartens, infrastructure development, creation of conditions for active life style of people in Avdiivka, support of healthcare system and provision of assistance to socially vulnerable population groups.
Heavily affected by shelling, Avdiivka Coke did not stop helping the city. Apart from performing maintenance works in the shops, employees of the city-forming enterprise served as volunteers in Avdiivka delivering food to settlements under shelling, fed the socially vulnerable citizens, and helped the municipal services in their repair works.
All of charity budget of the coke plant in 2015 was dedicated to the restoration of residential buildings and social facilities in the city that came under shelling. At the instruction of the main shareholder of the Metinvest Group Rinat Akhmetov, additional UAH 10 million were allocated to support Avdiivka and its people. Total investments amounted to UAH 18 million.
In 2016, Avdiivka Coke plans to repair the infectious board of the city hospital, arrange wells and pump-rooms to improve the residents' access to drinking water, repair the interior in schools and kindergartens, arrange sports grounds, install street lights in the city alleys, and arrange parking places for bicycles.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest Group:
— Despite the difficult economic and political situation, the Metinvest Group does not plan to give up on its social commitments. The functioning Avdiivka Coke today is live economy of Ukraine tomorrow. We also understand that the support of Avdiivka that is located in the front line is critical as never before. Last year, our key efforts were focused on fighting the destructions. Today, however, we set a different objective - help Avdiivka come back to normal life and put themselves on the development path. This takes renovated social facilities, availability of drinking water, new play and sports grounds, and support to business and culture. At that, the development and modernization of the coke plant will continue.
Musa Magomedov, the general director of Avdiivka Coke:
— We did not sign a social partnership agreement last year as the situation demanded urgent and decisive actions. Due to close cooperation with utility departments of the city and volunteer organizations we were able to bring heating back to Avdiivka, and repair major destructions of residential buildings and social facilities. We see the city is alive today! Our goal is to help it move on. The projects of this year are focused on the development: repair of schools, arrangement of sports grounds and improvement of municipal infrastructure. We are thankful to the management company and its shareholders for supporting the important projects in this difficult time.
Avdiivka city mayor Yuriy Cherkasov:
— The biggest help of Avdiivka Coke to the city is stable employment and stable contributions to the city budget. Last year the deductions of Avdiivka Coke to the city treasury accounted for the record high 80%. But for the plant, the city would not survive the military operation. Today, amidst fragile peace, we hope for the better future. We know that our faithful friend and a partner Avdiivka Coke and the Metinvest Group will support us in our dreams.