The war in Ukraine became a severe test for domestic industry. However, the challenging conditions did not stand in the way of the ambitious plans of the Zaporizhzhia Abrasive Plant to strengthen its presence in the markets of EU countries. Despite the difficulties, the company continues to develop production based on modern technologies, expand the range of products, and expand abroad.
Among the primary consumers of the plant’s products are companies from Germany, Italy, the USA, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, and Turkey, which represent the defense and construction industries, the mining, aviation and automobile industries, metallurgy, shipbuilding and atomic energy.
About 90% of our products are exported – this figure was restored after a 6% reduction after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The foreign economic activity of the enterprise and, as a result, the national economy is supported by unique production. Zaporizhabrasive manufactures refractory materials (in particular, boron carbide, which is used in body armor), abrasive tools (cut-off wheels, grinding wheels on bakelite, and ceramic bonds) at its facilities.
“Our advantages as a partner for EU countries are a full production cycle of the enterprise (from raw materials to materials and products from them), close location to the consumer, which reduces delivery time, a wide range of products, moderate prices, quick response to consumer needs, stable and reliable quality,” – said the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the company Maksym Bielawski.
According to him, soon, it is planned to insert new European equipment, increase capacity, and reduce energy costs to strengthen competitive positions in foreign markets further.
An essential aspect of the modernization program at the Zaporizhzhia Abrasive Plant is investment in environmental safety so that production meets European standards. Over the past three years, their amount has reached 23 million hryvnias. These severe and expensive projects allowed the enterprise to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere by more than four times. The most significant of the measures was the reconstruction of gas cleaning units (GOU) from furnaces #1 and #2 of shop #2. In addition, the modernization of aspiration units (AU) No. 13, 14, and 16 in shop No. 2 was carried out. In 2020, the reconstruction of the HOU from furnace #2 of workshop #2 was completed.
The European Union, Ukraine’s leading trade partner, pays special attention to compliance with environmental and climate standards. Therefore, the next step in our investment strategy is production modernization projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It will make it possible to align the company’s export plans with EU requirements, create additional demand for its products, maintain a presence in Western markets, and protect the business from the risks associated with the ETS – a cross-border carbon tax introduced by Brussels for foreign suppliers to stimulate the decarbonization of production in third countries.
The EU’s green course is already affecting the economic processes in Ukraine because the latest technologies are more appropriate for implementation than the old ones from the point of view of business efficiency and production costs. Even before the full-scale war, Ukraine was active in decarbonization and planned to reduce emissions by 65% from 1990 levels in the next decade. With these plans, the Zaporizhzhia Abrasive Plant has started to implement a strategy to optimize production and, even in war conditions, will not give up green transformation to remain Europe’s key trade partner in its field.
