Ukraine’s Biggest Smelter Under Threat Due to Mobilization-Induced Worker Shortages

Kiev adopted a new bill to tighten the screws on drafting last month. The bill came into effect on May 18 and looks to replenish Ukrainian forces that have been depleted by two years of armed conflict with Russia.

Ongoing mobilization in Ukraine has ridden roughshod over Ukraine's largest mining and smelting plant, the ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog, its chief executive Mauro Longobardo has told the Financial Times.

"If they [Ukrainian authorities] continue to mobilize, we will not have enough [staff] to operate. We are talking here about the existence of the company," he stressed.

According to him, one way to secure the survival of the plant has been through hiring more female workers, with the firm placing huge billboards across the southern city of Krivoy Rog featuring young women in orange overalls with slogans such as "Ladies really run things here!" in a bid to lure employees.

The company’s recruitment strategy is partly aimed at replacing mobilized men, as well as the thousands of male workers who have moved to safer parts of Ukraine, Longobardo said. He admitted that the strategy was initiated because hiring men has become a very tricky task.

The ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog CEO also referred to the negative impact of military recruiters' tactics, who he said had begun standing at the entrance to the plant during shift changes, "prompting some employees to turn back home and call in sick and potential new recruits to steer clear of the company."

Similarly, the Ukrainian government lacks "a unified vision for large enterprises," with the Economy Ministry trying to be supportive and the Defense Ministry putting "psychological pressure" on male staff, per Longobardo.

By struggling to fill vacancies, the plant was forced to cut production, including for steel used in shielding energy facilities from Russian airstrikes, the ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog chief executive said. "In the end, I think the country is losing out," he concluded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill on the voluntary draft of some groups of convicts into law earlier this week, in a move that highlighted the Kiev regime’s desperate attempts to replenish its depleted forces.

Last month, Zelensky inked a new mobilization law, which lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25, expanded the powers of enlistment officers and introduced penalties for draft dodgers, including fines of up to 25,000 hryvnias ($640). The document has been in force since May 18.