Lacking personnel, big businesses in Ukraine cannot restore and increase their production.

Some segments of the Metinvest group cannot currently reach even 50-60% of their pre-war production, said the group’s top manager, Tetyana Petruk. According to her, this is a common problem for large businesses operating in Ukraine, especially in regions located near the front line.

“If the export-oriented industry has now managed to slightly restore logistics processes after the launch of the Black Sea Corridor, then the personnel problem has not gone away. Some employees have been mobilized to the ranks of the Armed Forces, and many have resigned and moved with their families either to Europe or to safer regions of Ukraine,” she explained.

According to Petruk, Metinvest is one of the largest enterprises in Ukraine among private and state companies in terms of the number of people mobilized to the Armed Forces.

The top manager said that about 50,000 people work in the group, every sixth person (16%) is mobilized, and Metinvest’s total employee deficit compared to pre-war levels already amounts to more than 4,000 employees.