The Metinvest group has decided to restore the railway bridge over River Kalchyk, which is located between the Sartana and Mariupol railway stations. The bridge was blown up in a rebel attack in December last year, the press service of the group said in a statement.
This bridge facilitates passenger and freight traffic and links the Illich integrated iron and steel works and the Azovstal integrated iron and steel works with the Mariupol seaport. Restoration of the bridge will allow the iron and steel works to receive raw materials necessary for production and transport their finished products, the press service said.
The Illich and Azovstal iron and steel works faced the threat of shutdown after the bridge was blown up in December 2014: the steel works received about 30% of their raw materials and shipped up to 60% of their metal products through the Mariupol seaport. The iron and steel works have been forced to reduce production, but they have managed to avoided complete shutdown by establishing other supply chains.
Restoration of the railway bridge will enable them to stop using the dilapidated, single-track bridge that they are temporarily using.
Reconstruction of the bridge has already begun, and it will take three months to complete. The reconstruction project will cost UAH 12 million. The Metinvest group will finance all related expenditures, excluding the expenditures on laying rail sleepers and installation of aerial contact wires. The Mariupol-based Mast-Bud company will perform the reconstruction work. The State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia) will perform the laying of tracks and their electrification.
Metinvest is the largest mining and metallurgical holding in Ukraine. The group’s companies are located mainly in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhe, and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
