Avdiivka Coke Plant

Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant (AKHZ) in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, is the largest coke producer in Ukraine and is owned by the company Metinvest,[1] which is in turn owned by Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian oligarch. AKHZ also produces a variety of chemicals including benzine, coal tar, coal oil ammonium sulphate and coke gas.[2] At present Avdiivka Coke plant consists of 13 main and 30 auxiliary workshops as well as service structural divisions.

Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant
TypeSubsidiary
Founded1963
HeadquartersAvdiivka, Ukraine
Productsbenzine, coal tar, coal oil ammonium sulphate and coke gas
ParentMetinvest
Websiteakhz.metinvestholding.com
Avdiivka Coke Plant

History

The plant was constructed in 1963 by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to fulfil the coke needs of the nearby Mariupol Steel Works[3] as well as the availability of coal from local mines. Originally opening with 1 coke battery, this expanded to nine by 1980 with investment from the Soviet Union.[3] By 1988, 100 million tons of coke had been produced making it a major coke producer in Europe.[3] In 1993 as Ukraine gained independence, the plant was privatised as the Open Joint Stock Company 'Avdeevskiy Coke-processing Works'.[3]

Starting on Mid-April 2014, pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast;[4][5] including Avdiivka.[6] In July 2014 fighting between the separatists and the Ukrainian army (during which Ukrainian forces secured the city from the pro-Russian separatists[7]) damaged the Coke plant and it has been hit by 165 mortars during the conflict.[8][9][10] The plant stopped working on 17 August 2014 due to the increasing violence.[11] On 5 February 2015, the workers of the plant published an open letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko,[12] accusing the 25th Airborne Brigade and the volunteer Aidar Battalion of opening fire from residential areas, asking that they be removed from the town. The letter also claims that the town has been without water, heat and electricity for the past six months and warns of the ecological catastrophe that could follow from further shelling of the plant. After being recaptured by the Ukrainian army, production has been resumed, albeit at one third capacity.[10] Much of the plant is damaged and the administration takes place in a Soviet bunker built beneath the site to avoid shelling.[10] In January 2017, Russian separatists shelled the town of Avdiivka with rounds from a BM-21 Grad, causing heavy damage to the plant's generators and disrupting gas production, as well as leaving the town without heating for several days.[13][14] This shelling killed the 10th factory employee to die since the start of the War in Donbass.[15]

Production

Before the war in Ukraine, production was 12,000 tons of coke per day, worth $2.4m.[10] However, this has fallen by two thirds due to the conflict.[10] Avdiivka Coke is one of the top-five coke producers in Europe and the largest coke-producer in Ukraine. Currently AKHZ produces about 40 types of products and the share of the plant exceeds 20% of gross coke output in Ukraine. It sells coke to Azovstal, Yenakiieve Steel and Ilyich Steel as well as to customers outside of the Metinvest group of companies such as Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rih.[16] Avdeyevka Coke currently produces coke at eight out of its nine coke batteries.

The plant has seen considerable investment over the last in environmental equipment and facilities including sulphur removal and heat exchangers to reduce energy consumption.[17] The plant is considered important to steel production in Ukraine.[18]

References
  1. "METINVEST :: Avdiivka Coke Plant". akhz.metinvestholding.com. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  2. "METINVEST :: Products and quality :: Products". akhz.metinvestholding.com. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  3. "METINVEST :: About us :: Our history". akhz.metinvestholding.com. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  4. https://newrepublic.com/article/117387/putin-accidentally-helping-unite-eastern-and-western-ukraine
  5. http://en.itar-tass.com/world/735082
  6. http://en.itar-tass.com/world/741594
  7. "TASS: World - Ukraine's army launches massive offensive operation on Donetsk". TASS. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
    "BBC: Ukrainian military 'seizes Avdiivka' in rebel Donetsk stronghold". KyivPost. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
    Bloomberg: Ukraine pushes for UN peacekeepers, Ukraine Today (21 April 2015)
  8. http://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/metinvest-groups-avdiivka-coke-hit-by-artillery-839013.htm
  9. http://news.rin.ru/eng/news///47007/
  10. News, Tom Burridge BBC. "Ukraine crisis: The factory that has been shelled 165 times". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  11. (in Ukrainian) Avdiivka Coke completely disconnected and stopped working, Ukrayinska Pravda (17 August 2014)
  12. http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/society/sotrudniki-avdeevskogo-koksohima-prosyat-poroshenko-vyvesti-05022015170500
  13. "Ukraine clashes rage for third day, sparking EU concern". Agence France-Presse. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. An AFP reporter saw the separatists shell the town of about 20,000 people with repeated rounds of Grad multiple rocket systems and artillery fire from the early morning. "Right now, there is no power. We have not resolved problems with heating homes, and the gas pipe has been shattered," local Ukrainian army unit spokeswoman Olena Mokrynchuk told AFP [...] The town's heating is provided by a coke plant that has been heavily damaged by the falling shells. Plant director Musa Magomedov said it would be incredibly difficult to resume gas production were the factory's generators shut down. That would leave Avdiivka without a source of local power and uncertainty about its future.
  14. http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7134509/ In Avdiyivka switched to heating mode stable
  15. Violence flares in war-weary Ukraine as US dithers and Russia pounces, The Guardian (14 February 2017)
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-05. Retrieved 2013-09-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "METINVEST :: Development :: Energy saving". akhz.metinvestholding.com. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  18. Adamczyk, Ed (January 31, 2017). "Ukraine prepares to evacuate town under siege; no electricity, no water". UPI. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. The town is near the rebel-held city of Donetsk, as well as near important roads used by rebel forces. It is also the home of a coke and chemical plant, Europe's largest of its kind. If the separatists captured the facility it could jeopardize Ukraine's steel industry.
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