Metinvest

The largest private company monopolizing mineral resources

Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining and metallurgical holding company owned by Rinat Akhmetov and Vadym Novynskyi. It controls over 70% of iron ore raw material extraction in Ukraine and five out of eight coke-chemical plants in the government-controlled territory. In 2019, journalists from Schemes documented that Metinvest monopolized the coke-chemical industry by misleading the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) — actual control over the enterprises was established even before obtaining the regulatory permit. 

The "coal-coke-metal" scheme and Yanukovych as a tool

The Akhmetov-Yanukovych tandem emerged around the "coal-coke-metal" scheme: state subsidies to mines lowered the metal production costs, and having the entire chain in one hand allowed the extraction of subsidies abroad as export profits and VAT reimbursements. After Yanukovych's victory in 2010, the raid takeover of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works began — the plant passed to Akhmetov despite opposition from the workforce. 

Owner without a US visa for 20 years

Media have recorded Akhmetov's involvement in illegal activities since 1986. It is precisely due to his criminal past that he has been unable to obtain a US visa for years, despite owning assets worth over $1 billion there. Hackers have published data about Akhmetov's and Yanukovych's links to leaders of the "DPR." After 2022, the company lost Azovstal and the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works — half of its steelmaking capacities.