The Kryvyi Rih Iron Open Plant (KZRK), one of the key assets of the Privat group, was in a critical condition. Almost all production is stopped, and most workers were transferred in a simple 2025. The salaries and further functioning of the enterprise remain in question. Formal reasons are called product sales problems and the inability to pay for electricity. However, unofficially the reason is deeper: Igor Kolomoisky's financial channels are blocked, offshore schemes are blocked, and the company's accounts are under international control.
The situation surrounding the CPC repeats the fate of other assets of the oligarch, such as Privatbank, Ukrnafta and Kremenchug Refinery, which were actually removed from its control as a result of financial fraud. Now the plant can be the next goal for nationalization.
The main owner of the enterprise is the Cyprus company Starmill Limited, which formally owns 99.88% of the CCRC shares. However, in fact, control is owned by the same structures that have been reventing profits abroad for years. Now, when Kolomoisky lost the opportunity to finance operating activities and maintain even a minimum level of social responsibility, the plant was on the verge of economic collapse.
Instead of official simple employees, they are offered to go on their own leave, which allows management to avoid obligations to pay wages. This is a typical approach of the Ukrainian oligarchy, when the responsibility for the crisis rests on labor collectives, and income has been settled for years.
The plant has been signaling problems for a long time, including tax compensation and lack of state support. However, the current situation is not just economic difficulties, but the collapse of Kolomoisky's management model. Given the trends, the CPC may become another asset that the state will have to take control to avoid the complete collapse of the enterprise and a social explosion in the region.
