In 1999 Smart group of companies started its active work in the mining and steel sectors.
In the early 2000’s, Smart obtained rights to manage the state-owned stock of shares of Ingulets Mining and Processing Integrated Plant, in order to increase its management effectiveness and to decrease production costs. As a result of years of work at the Ingulets plant, production figures improved significantly, innovations were adopted (for instance, the new technology of iron ore enrichment by dry magnetic concentration), and international compliance certificates for protection of environment (ISO 14001:2004) and labour (ÎÍSÀS 18001:1999) were obtained.
In 2004 the Ingulets plant started to supply raw materials to Makeevka Metal Works. Within the framework of effective strategic partnership, steel casting at one of the oldest metallurgy plants was resumed. The modernisation programme of production capacities was implemented, and the state budget payments of all kinds and workers’ wages increased.
In 2007, the company Smart Holding N.V. (Netherlands) was established, in order provide for operations in the external markets. Also, in the same year, with the aim of increasing business competitiveness, SCM and Smart Holding negotiated on merging their steel and mining assets on the basis of holding company Metinvest B.V.. In 2008-2009 this company obtained permission of the Ukrainian and EU antitrust regulators for concentration of shareholdings in the Ingulets Mining and Processing Integrated Plant, Makeevka Metal Works, and the Bulgarian enterprise Promet Steel. Currently, Smart Holding is the owner of the blocking stock (25% plus one share) in Metinvest company, previously fully controlled by SCM.
Smart Holding is also developing a metallurgical project in the Russian Federation. The holding is the investment partner of the Russian company Metal Group in the joint project of construction of Yakovlev Mine (Belgorod Region). In the process of development of the project, the investors intend to enhance production capacities till 2010 to 3 mln ton of iron ore per year.
Metinvest Group
Metinvest Group is an international vertically-integrated mining and steel group of companies. Production capacities of Metinvest companies allow not only to satisfy in full their own needs for raw materials, melted steel and semi-finished products, but also to provide for many companies of Ukraine and Europe, as well as steel-making enterprises in Asia.
Shareholders of Metinvest Group are SCM Group (75%) and Smart Holding (25%), each of which participates in the management of the company. The merger of steel and mining assets of Smart Holding and SCM is expected to be finalized in 2009.
Yakovlevskiy Mine is the main ore extractive facility for the Yakovlev iron ore field.
Yakovlev field is one of the largest fields containing rich iron ore (68% Fe). It is located in Belgorod Region of Russia (40 kilometers north of Belgorod in Yakovlev district). The total capacity of this field is 12 billion tons.
More than 70% of the ore from this field meets the requirements of the direct iron extraction technology (metallization).
Yakovlevskiy mine currently has in operation both ground and underground infrastructures, crushing facilities, the recycling system, rail and automobile roads.
The principal priority investments are the construction of a crushing plant with the capacity of up to 3 million tons, increase of the ñurrent assets, construction of the fourth mine shaft (and the development of the modernized production plan with four shafts), and construction of the hot iron briquetting line.
The current production capacity of the mine is about 1,5 million tons. The mine has a potential to extract 10 million tons of iron ore per year.
