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Ukrainian steel giant Metinvest's CEO alerts Russian advance \disconcerting\.

The head of Ukraine's steel giant Metinvest has actually called Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine, where its has a few of its most significant operations, worrying and advised the United States to urgently approve a stalled military aid package.

Russia's capture of Avdiivka saw it claim full control of Metinvest's large Soviet-era coking coal plant on Monday, marking the loss of another of the company's facilities after the Azovstal steel plant that ended up being a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the early days of the war.

The frontline now lies within 40 kilometres (24.85 miles) of Pokrovsk, where Metinvest runs Ukraine's largest coal mine, and its biggest steel plant in Zaporizhzhia further to the south.

The (Russian) advances we have actually seen in the recently are quite alarming, Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest's chief executive, informed on Monday in the company's first response to Avdiivka's fall.

Asked whether Metinvest was now preparing for Pokrovsk and Zaporizhzhia to come under attack, he said the huge scale of the facilities meant little might be done other than standard evacuation plans.

You don't truly get ready for something like that, he said. You do as much as possible to prevent that.

Getting weapons and support to the army was the immediate requirement, he worried.

While the European Union has actually simply approved a 50 billion euro ($ 54 billion) support program, a $60 billion U.S. package has been postponed for months by clashes between Democrats and Republicans over domestic immigration concerns.

After a weekend meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Munich, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris knocked the hold-ups as political gamesmanship.

Donald Trump, frontrunner for the Republican governmental election, has meanwhile said he would ask European allies to compensate the United States for around $200 billion worth of ammunition.

We are concerned with how the situation develops on the ground however we are likewise really worried about the lack of dedication of a few of our allies, Ryzhenkov stated, describing the U.S. delays. The message is quite clear, he added. Please do not let us down, it is simple as that.

OUTPUT

The iron and steel sector used around 600,000 people and contributed around 10% of Ukraine's GDP before the war.

That plunged in 2022 as Russia caught essential ports but the resuming of some sea routes over the last six months has actually driven a rebound.

The capability utilisation of the ports ... is quite near to pre-invasion levels now, Ryzhenkov said, including that Metinvest's iron ore plants would ideally recover to 75% of capability this year and steel plants to about 65%.

An approximated 9,000-10,000 workers are currently conscripted to the army and a strategy to increase conscription numbers is working its way through parliament.

We (currently) do not have adequate people to operate at full capability, Ryzhenkov said. We are hiring people, we are training them and after that they are getting prepared before they even start working.

(source: Reuters)