Russia Expands Its Basis for Greatness

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works

Seeing how Trump is being almost unanimously nominated for the R-Party president nomination because he will supposedly continue making America great after doing so much during his first term, this event in Russia today will give readers what it actually takes to make a great nation, and that’s an extensive industrial base containing a vast assortment of metallurgical production facilities. Such a nation must have an extensive industrial policy that demands ongoing investment and modernization, which is precisely what Russia is doing and the Outlaw US Empire isn’t. All the exhortations and hoopla surrounding the nomination of Donald Trump won’t do anything to make America great because the US government has no industrial policy or any real leverage over the financial forces that would provide the needed levels of investment, for as we’ve seen financiers are more interested in collecting rents, while what industrial corporations that remain are only concerned with increasing profits so their stock price rises. Furthermore, Russia actually recognizes the workers that make this fundamental industrial output possible while US government policy actually wages a form of social war on such workers.

Today’s event is described thusly:

On the eve of Metallurgist's Day, which is celebrated this year on July 21, Vladimir Putin took part in the launch of metallurgical production facilities in the Donetsk People's Republic, Nizhny Novgorod and Chelyabinsk regions via video link.

The Donetsk facilities are just a few of the many that will be reopened within the liberated Novorossiya region, most of which were allowed to rust and decompose with no investment being made to keep them functional and competitive and zero attention paid by the Ukrainian government well before the 2014 coup. It can certainly be said that President Putin’s development policy aimed and aims to make Russia great again to the point where it won’t be debilitated again. Also as we’ve seen, it’s not just presidential policy, it also takes the entire government to do the work, and that’s one of the key differences between Russia and the Outlaw US Empire.

Now, on with our program that leads with some further information provided by the Kremlin:

Blast furnace No. 5 has been put into operation at the Yenakiieve Steel Plant in the Donetsk People's Republic after major repairs. Its launch will allow melting more than one million tons of steel per year. Yenakiyevsky Plant is a full-cycle metallurgical enterprise that produces rebar, rolled metal products, including those for shipbuilding, and commercial pig iron.

Ruspolimet has launched vacuum-arc and electroslag remelting furnaces in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The plant will almost double the output of heat-resistant steels and alloys. Ruspolimet JSC manufactures special materials for high-tech industries. In addition, as part of import substitution, the company has established the production of gasostats.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has launched a dry coking coal production facility in the Chelyabinsk Region. The new coking battery (four units of 50 furnaces) will produce 2.5 million tons of dry coking coal per year and will reduce air pollution emissions.

During the video conference, the light and music fountain "Steel Heart of the Motherland", located in the park "Attraction" in Magnitogorsk, was also opened. The development of the park area of 400 hectares is carried out on the initiative of the MMK management.

The Day of Employees and Veterans of the mining and metallurgical complex is celebrated annually in Russia on the third Sunday of July.

Vladimir Putin: Dear colleagues, good afternoon! Hello!

This week we have a good and big holiday that concerns almost 700,000 people - the Day of Employees and Veterans of the Russian Mining and Metallurgical Complex. I cordially congratulate all of you on this professional holiday, the upcoming Metallurgist's Day.

Our mining and metallurgical industry today consists of large factories and combines, a powerful scientific and technological base, and, of course, strong traditions and family dynasties. These are, as I have already said, hundreds of thousands of highly qualified specialists: miners, blast furnace workers, steelworkers, blacksmiths, rolling mills, foundry workers and many others.

Dear friends!

Your hard work, which requires professionalism, perseverance and tempering, rightfully enjoys well-deserved respect and honor. We are proud of your achievements and your significant contribution to the development of the domestic metallurgy industry, which is certainly of strategic importance for our entire country, for building up its industrial potential, implementing major infrastructure projects, equipping the army and navy – that is, for further growth of the national economy, ensuring reliable defense and security of the Motherland.

Thanks to your work, the mining and metallurgical complex continues to develop steadily. So, according to experts, last year Russia took the first place in the world in the production of high-grade nickel, the second place in the production of aluminum, the third-in the production of titanium products and the fifth-in the volume of steel production.

It is important that the industry is becoming more and more high-tech from year to year. Advanced engineering and manufacturing solutions are being actively implemented, and unique alloys are being developed that make it possible to create materials with special properties. All this opens up new and very broad opportunities in various fields: from aviation and cosmonautics to electronics and medicine.

Of course, it is necessary to continue to carry out a deep modernization of production facilities and, as a matter of principle, to do this on the basis of our own, domestic technologies and equipment.

I would like to note that despite the sanctions pressure, the industry continues to increase investment in new, promising projects, some of which are implemented using state support measures, including through the mechanisms of the cluster investment platform.

We will definitely continue to apply well-established mechanisms and introduce new effective tools. In addition, we intend to create additional demand for the industry's products through the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects.

It is also important that the industry pays increasing attention to environmental safety issues. But, of course, there are still a lot of problems in this area. It is important that metallurgical enterprises actively switch to modern technologies and equipment. For this purpose, we are implementing the federal project "Clean Air". I hope that manufacturers will fulfill all their commitments to technological renewal and reduce the harmful impact on the environment, which will generally increase the efficiency of the industry.

And of course, we need to increase the deep processing of metals, expand the production of high-tech metal products, and increase the added value at domestic enterprises.

Today we are taking another step in the development of the metallurgical industry in our country-we are opening new production facilities in the Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions, as well as, most significantly, in the Donetsk People's Republic.

I would like to emphasize that there is still a lot of work to be done to restore and modernize the systemically important metallurgical sector of the Donbas economy and improve the working conditions of its employees. There are still a lot of tasks here. We will gradually solve these problems and integrate the industry into the common economic space of Russia.

We note – and I hope it will be mentioned now-that over the past year, compared to the previous year, in 2023, compared to 2022, the production of steel products in the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics increased by 30 percent-a very good indicator.

In conclusion, I would like to once again thank everyone involved in the mining and metallurgical sector of the country for their valiant work and high results.

I wish further success, good health and prosperity to you and all your loved ones.

Let's get started. Please, Anton Andreevich, please.

A. Alikhanov [Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation]: Good afternoon, Mr President, dear colleagues!

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to congratulate all those who work in the backbone branch of our economy – metallurgy-on their professional holiday. Last year, it reached close to record volumes due to activity in the consumption sectors. In ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, the construction sector is the driver of growth, which is provided by state programs on modernization of housing and communal services, gasification, development of housing and road construction in our country. And on the part of industry, an increase in production in shipbuilding, automobile and railway engineering played a role.

Since the beginning of this year, we have seen a slight decrease in the production of liquid steel, but this is due to a reduction in the export supply of long products. At the same time, in the domestic market, the state continues to systematically form a large-scale demand for steel products through the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects, including those that are being laid down in new national projects.

With this in mind, metallurgical companies are increasing their investments in the creation of new high-tech industries and the greening of existing capacities. We provide them with financial support within the framework of the mentioned cluster investment platform. Through this mechanism, projects are implemented for the production of stainless steel products, semi-finished products made of heat-resistant steel grades, and large-sized packages for our nuclear industry. We also co-finance similar projects through compensation for R & D costs. In this format, we are developing technologies for the production of bearing and special medical steels, bimetallic rolled products for our oil and gas engineering industry, and new types of products for the construction and automotive industries.

A number of projects receive tax benefits-a total of 400 billion rubles-under the terms of special investment contracts, including the creation of industries with a low carbon footprint. In turn, the Industrial Development Fund provides preferential loans for the greening of certain capacities of such enterprises as MMK and Severstal.

Today I would also like to thank the steel companies for their very hard work in the interests of our military-industrial complex. Despite the sanctions, our colleagues have repeatedly increased the volume of shipments of their products to the defense industry. For this purpose, duplicate production facilities were created for the production of a wide range of products: aluminum semi-finished products, high-strength rolled products and especially special alloys. This is the task that you, Mr President, set out in our approved strategy for the development of the industry.

Special attention is now being paid to the revival of the metallurgical complex of Donbass. We have detailed plans for rehabilitation, investment and integration of enterprises into national cooperation chains. Key capacities in the YUGMK circuit have already been put into operation: these are plants in Alchevsk, Yenakiyevo, Makeyevsky Coke Plant, Komsomolsk Ore Management, Stakhanov Ferroalloy Plant, Yasinovsky Coke Plant. Last year, they increased their output by 30 percent-to 2.5 million tons - and plan to achieve a similar dynamic this year.

This will be achieved, among other things, by zeroing the excise tax on liquid steel and MET on iron ore, which is now approved for all producers in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

I would like to note that uninterrupted supplies of raw materials have already been established for all enterprises in these regions. The restored coke plants of the DPR and LPR completely cover the needs of local enterprises.

As far as non-ferrous metallurgy is concerned, we have met the country's domestic needs in the main positions, and a large volume is exported. At the same time, manufacturers continue to invest in the development of the raw material base and in the production of final products, in reducing emissions. Large capital-intensive projects are currently being implemented to develop the Udokan and Malmyzhsky copper deposits.

On your instructions, Vladimir Vladimirovich, the aluminum industry is preparing the construction of an alumina plant in the Leningrad Region, the Taishet anode Factory, and a major environmental modernization program for four major aluminum plants.

Norilsk Nickel also runs a similar program. Thanks to it, the company expects to reduce its emissions of sulfur dioxide from Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant by almost half next year.

In the titanium industry, where we are world leaders, VSMPO-Avisma Corporation, despite the sanctions, has established the supply of ilmenite concentrate from friendly countries.

At the beginning of this year, the first stage of the Tugansky GOK was launched on domestic equipment, which made it possible to replace about seven percent of imports. The second stage is being implemented, and by 2030 we plan to reach volumes that will cover about half of our demand for this raw material.

We set ourselves a more ambitious task for rare and rare-earth metals. In previous years, technologies for processing complex ores and extracting these metals were developed. Currently, Rosatom's investment projects are being prepared for launch with state support: These are the Lovozersky GOK and Solikamsk magnesium plant, projects of Rostec and Highland Gold: the Tyrnyauz tungsten-molybdenum and Tastyg lithium [deposits], the Ermakovskoye beryllium deposit.

Plus initiatives of private companies. This is the Skygrad group of Companies, which will process phosphogypsum dumps in Voskresensk, and Norilsk Nickel, together with Rosatom, is working on Polar Lithium.

Thanks to such projects, we expect to increase the output of rare and rare-earth metals by eight times by 2030 and, accordingly, reduce the share of imports in consumption to 15 percent. It is also part of new national technology leadership projects.

I am confident that the industry will successfully complete all these tasks that are important for industry and the economy.

I once again congratulate all metallurgists on the upcoming holiday and would like to thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for your great attention to the development of our country's metallurgical complex.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you, Anton Andreevich.

Let's move on to specific events, to specific events.

Please, Sherin Valery Vitalievich, Soyuzmetallservis

Vladimir Sherin [General Director of Soyuzmetallservis Management Company]:

Hello, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Many thanks for the congratulations on the upcoming professional holiday – Metallurgist's Day.

Since June 2021, the YUGMK Group [Southern Mining and Metallurgical Complex] has taken over the management and development of seven metallurgical enterprises in Donbass: two in the Luhansk [People's Republic] and five in the Donetsk People's Republic. At the time of taking over the management, the enterprises were in a crisis situation, production was stopped, and the wage arrears to employees amounted to about four billion rubles. During the three years of management, we have fully paid off our salary debts, and its size has been repeatedly indexed, increasing by 2.5 times. We also restored and stabilized production at the level of three million tons of steel per year. Today we are the largest industrial holding in the Donbass.

As part of our obligations as an enterprise management company, we have approved an investment declaration for the next three years in the amount of 24 billion rubles. A 10-year long-term production development strategy is also being finalized, with an investment of at least 150 billion rubles. This year, we have already implemented a repair program worth about 3.5 billion rubles.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, today, on the eve of Metallurgist's Day, we are celebrating a significant event at the key metallurgical enterprise of the Donetsk People's Republic – Yenakiieve Steel Plant, where we are launching the most important unit after a long downtime – blast furnace No. 5. The furnace was stopped by the previous owner four years ago. We have carried out a major overhaul of the furnace at a cost of two billion rubles, which allows us to bring it to an operating capacity of 2,850 tons of pig iron per day and melt more than one million tons of steel per year.

But most importantly, it allows us to quickly start overhauling another unit, Blast furnace No. 3, in order to put it into operation next year and increase steel output by 2.5 times.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, this significant event in the life of the plant was made possible thanks to the well-coordinated, responsible work of the company's labor collective and contractors, and, of course, thanks to your personal participation and attention to the development of the industry of Donbass, effective support measures of the Government of the Russian Federation, our curator-the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Federal Development Fund For this, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the factory employees.

Thank you.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, allow me to give the floor to the head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin.

Vladimir Putin: Of course. Denis Vladimirovich, please.

Dmitry Pushilin: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues!

Metallurgy has historically been a hallmark of the economy of Donbass and one of the priority industries. On the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, as many as 36 enterprises of the industry carry out production activities: these are metallurgical, coke-chemical, and flux-producing enterprises. The largest ones, as we have just heard, are YUGMK Donetsk, which includes the Yenakiyevsky and Makeyevsky Metallurgical Plants, Makeyevkoks, and Yasinovsky Coke and Chemical Plant. It is also the Khartsyzsk steel-wire and rope plant "Silur", Donetsk Metallurgical plant, around which just 152 years ago there was a working village that grew into the capital of the region.

50 percent of the industry's enterprises are among the main sources of budget replenishment – this is a very important point. In general, more than 18 thousand people work in this field. The development of the metallurgical industry stimulates the development of such industries as mechanical engineering and construction, and has a significant multiplier effect. One person who is employed in metallurgy provides employment for anywhere from five to seven people in related sectors of the economy. Despite all the known challenges, the metallurgical enterprises of the republic not only continue to work, but also increase their production volumes. You have also mentioned this just now, and it is really very significant for us.

According to the results of work for the first quarter of 2024, the volume of production of the main types of metallurgical products: pig iron, steel, rolled products, coke – amounted to almost 737 thousand tons, which is 37.5 percent more than in the same period last year. Many metallurgical enterprises are members of the free economic zone – this, of course, has accelerated the pace of development.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you very much for making this decision, which is a very serious incentive.

Of course, the most important value of the metallurgical industry, what can I say here, is our workers who are loyal to their company, their native land and Russia.

Heroic efforts managed to preserve the potential of the industry, this is clearly seen in the example of the Yenakiieve Steel Plant. Thanks to its professional team, after the overhaul and ignition of blast furnace No. 5, which Valery Vitalievich just mentioned, pig iron production begins here. This will increase the production of pig iron and continuous cast billets, and ensure the production of steel with a volume of more than one million tons per year. Of course, I would like to congratulate the company's staff on this significant event, and all the metallurgists of our vast country on the upcoming professional holiday.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you again. And for an important point, I would like to give the floor again to Valery Vitalyevich [Sherin]. I beg.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

Vladimir Sherin: Mr President, may I start producing pig iron from the fifth blast furnace?

Vladimir Putin: Of course. I allow it.

Remark: Blast furnace master, proceed to open the cast-iron tap.

Reply: Accepted. We proceed to the autopsy.

Vladimir Putin: I congratulate you! The Yenakiieve Steel works employs almost 4,500 people. A great holiday for everyone, I congratulate you, success!

Let's go further and move to the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Please, Viktor Vladimirovich.

Vladimir Klochai [Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Ruspolymet]: Hello, Mr President, dear colleagues!

First of all, allow me to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to you, Mr President, for the high appreciation of our team's work – the award of the honorary badge of the Russian Federation "For Success in Work". This is a great honor for us, a high responsibility and, of course, a serious motivation for further improving work efficiency.

For more than 15 years, the company has been implementing a large-scale investment program, as a result of which a unique world-class complex of a full technological cycle in the field of special metallurgy has been created. Its products are in demand today in most industries of the Russian Federation. About 40 percent of these products were provided by import substitution. The product line has significantly expanded. In fact, a new metallurgical plant was built in the old buildings, on the old site. In the last five years alone, we have put into operation seven production lines and units.

During this time, the output of marketable products increased 2.6 times, labor productivity increased 2.3 times, and wages doubled. The amount of taxes paid to the federal and regional budgets and extra-budgetary funds has increased fivefold.

The average annual growth of production volumes over the past six years was 23.5 percent, including due to newly built production facilities that started as start-ups and formed as subsidiaries that demonstrate a high growth rate, which allowed us, together with Ruspolimet, to ensure the growth of marketable products by 3.6 times in the group of enterprises as a whole. In other words, it is obvious that the implemented program is relevant and timely to date.

In addition, we are actively developing in the field of special engineering. In recent years, a whole range of equipment for the extractive industries, the nuclear industry and others has been designed and put into production.

Since 2020, with the support of the Ministry of Industry, we have started designing and manufacturing gas stations of various parameters and characteristics, which are in great demand today as one of the most advanced technologies for solving problems in mechanical engineering and materials science.

The task of increasing the production of special stainless steels and heat-resistant alloys is solved by building a new complex of six furnaces, one of them – a vacuum induction furnace-is already in operation, five furnaces of vacuum-arc and electroslag remelting are in various stages of commissioning. Despite all the difficulties of the current period, all furnaces will be started up on schedule at the end of the third quarter of this year.

The group's development program until 2030 is currently under consideration. It is planned to create new capacities, the volume of investments – about 20 billion rubles. Of course, we count on certain support measures, interaction with the authorities, business entities, and the business community. We are confident that this program will be implemented.

Thanks for attention.

Vladimir Putin: I am sure that both local and regional authorities have supported us and will continue to support us.

Gleb Sergeevich, please.

G. Nikitin [Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region]: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you so much. Indeed, we pay special attention to industry in general, in principle, and, of course, metallurgy.

In addition to what Viktor Vladimirovich [Klochai] said, I would like to point out, Mr Putin, that we [the region] finished 2023 in industry with a record growth rate for the entire history of the new Russia-110.6 percent in the manufacturing sector, which is four percent higher than even the most optimistic forecasts that we have for they pawned themselves.

The volume of products shipped exceeded two trillion rubles for the first time, and more than 90 percent of this volume is shipped from manufacturing industries, and it grew by 20 percent in 2023.

As for metallurgy, it is a system-forming industry for the region. In our country, 14.2 percent of the total volume in industry is provided by this industry. The number of employees is more than 23 thousand people. The average salary level is one of the highest in the region as a whole and in processing, more than 90 thousand rubles.

Leading metallurgical enterprises—Vyksa Metallurgical Plant and Ruspolimet, where we are located today—are now providing major investment projects on a scale of 250 billion rubles. This is a huge landmark sum, and the projects are exclusively high-tech, state-of-the-art. Of course, the key to such results was joint work with regional authorities and, of course, with the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Industry.

In general, Nizhny Novgorod enterprises in 2023 attracted 33 billion rubles for their own development with the help of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and through the Ministry of Industry and Trade. We received 1.6 billion rubles from the Federal Industrial Development Fund in 2023, and 22 billion rubles in total for the entire period. Therefore, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the supervising Ministry and the Government.

It is very important to note that in addition to Ruspolimet's state–of–the-art areas of metallurgy development—the production of powders, granules, titanium ingots, i.e. new materials—Ruspolimet also pays great attention to the production of means of production and machine tools. In fact, gas stations can also be called state-of-the-art means of production. Just a few days ago, on July 20, a gasostat created by our company will be launched in Ufa-–one of the largest in the world, one of the few in Russia, this is the only production of gasostats. Therefore, metallurgy is moving forward and machine-tool construction, too.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you so much for your support and congratulations to the metallurgists. And I wanted to ask for permission to Viktor Vladimirovich [Klochai] to suggest launching a new production facility-a section of special steels and alloys.

Thank you.

V. Klochay: Nevertheless, our main activity remains special metallurgy, and today, on the eve of Metallurgist's Day, Ruspolimet launches two furnaces: one for commercial operation, the other for pilot production.

We ask you, Mr President, to give us permission to start up these furnaces, so that at the end of the third quarter we can fully put the entire complex into operation and secure all the orders that are in demand today in our industry.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, Viktor Vladimirovich,I am very happy to allow this.

V. Klochay: Thank you very much. Together with the governor, we push a button and give a signal to our operator.

Replica: The furnace complex has been put into operation.

(to V. Klochai): Vladimir Putin Dear Viktor Vladimirovich,

Dear friends and colleagues,

I congratulate you on today's event. The company employs 3,500 people, the average age is 40 years, that is, the age structure is just wonderful, already mature employees, still young. The launch of these two furnaces, as far as I understand, will allow us to increase, double the capacity for the production of heat-resistant steels, alloys and products made from them. This is a very important and necessary event in the life of our industry, especially today.

I congratulate you.

V. Klochay: Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

Vladimir Putin: All the best!

Please, Viktor Filippovich, Chelyabinsk region.

Vladimir Rashnikov [Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant]: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

We thank you for your congratulations to our teams. For our part, we are happy to welcome you on the eve of our main holiday – Metallurgist's Day.

According to a long-standing tradition, we try to launch industrial and social facilities on these days. Today we are at the main management post of the new coke oven battery No. 12 – this is the largest investment project of our plant.

The property was built using the best available technologies. During construction, you can see what tonnage figures were used, and today we are already working on this project. The total capacity of the new coke oven battery is 2.5 million tons of dry coke, which is half of the plant's coke requirements.

The complex is equipped with the most modern environmental protection facilities, which is of great importance for the plant and for the city of Magnitogorsk. The new coke oven battery makes it possible to decommission five obsolete coke oven batteries: two of them have already been decommissioned, and one will be decommissioned by the end of the year.

As a result, emissions of harmful substances will be significantly reduced: dust – by more than 20 percent, and benzopyrenes – by 12 percent. With the launch of this new complex, which is currently in operation, the city of Magnitogorsk will practically correspond to the status of a "Clean City".

Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, once again for your congratulations, and allow me to start issuing coke from the new coke oven battery.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, get started.

Vladimir Rashnikov: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Viktor Filippovich, I congratulate you and all the employees of MMK. MMK is developing successfully, with 53,000 employees already employed. As far as I can see from the references, consolidated revenue in 2023 amounted to 760 billion rubles, more than 90 percent goes to the domestic market – 90 percent of products. Last year, the company produced 13 million tons of steel – a great indicator, great.

Alexey Leonidovich, can you add something?

A. Teksler [Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region]: Yes.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, first of all, I would like to thank you for your attention to the development of the metallurgical industry in general and the development of Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works in particular.

I would like to congratulate all metallurgists on their professional holiday. This is a very important holiday for the Chelyabinsk region. The metallurgical and manufacturing industries are the backbone industries for our region. We focus on the development of state-of-the-art technologies and the development of human resources.

The steel industry today is an innovative atmosphere, as you mentioned, and all the facilities that we are launching contribute to improving the environmental well-being of our citizens. This includes the agglomeration plant No. 5, which you, Mr Putin, opened here in Magnitogorsk in 2019. A new coke oven battery started working today. In recent years, there have been other facilities. I repeat, all of them improve the environmental situation in Magnitogorsk and allow us to achieve the task set out in your decrees to reduce emissions.

I would also like to point out that MMK is actively engaged in import substitution today. Together with the Ministry of Industry of the Russian Federation, the region is implementing a project for the production of rolled rolls – this is purely import substitution, and MMK is also a leader here.

And of course, Mr Putin, as I reported to you, we are developing not only modern production, but also the social sphere. Thanks to your decisions and national projects, new healthcare, education, sports, and cultural facilities are being built. I would also like to mention the participation of socially responsible businesses.

In this regard, I would like to once again thank Viktor Rashnikov, who not only invests in the plant and the environment, but also in the social sphere. Since 2021, Magnitogorsk has been implementing a unique project of comprehensive landscaping-this is the Attraction Park. Viktor Filippovich will tell you more about it.

I will note that this is a new way of looking at the urban environment. The park is made with love and respect for our native city, the legendary Magnitogorsk, which turned 95 years old this year – we just recently celebrated the 95th anniversary of the city. In five years, we will celebrate the centenary of Magnitogorsk, and we are preparing for this event. We also plan to build a multi-specialty medical center on your instructions. The design has already been completed, and we are currently working with the Ministry of Health to allocate the necessary funding. And after the launch of this medical center, it will be a new level of medical care for residents of Magnitogorsk. The medical center will be located directly on the territory of the Attraction Park. MMK also allocated land for the construction of this facility.

I give the floor for opening to Viktor Filippovich.

Vladimir Rashnikov: Thank you.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, of the social projects that we have prepared for this anniversary year, this is the third stage of the Attraction Park. I would like to remind you that you started this project in 2019, when we launched the sinter plant. Let me say a few words about this unique object for us.

The Attraction resort is a project that is being implemented on an area of 400 hectares. The construction of the first facilities started in 2021, starting with the construction of roads and parking lots. First of all, a 27-hectare park was launched for the Metallurgist's Day in 2022, a food mall, a boulevard with a light and music fountain, and playgrounds were built. The second stage was opened a year ago, and another 105 hectares were developed. We built a view hill with all-season trails for mountain skiing and tubing, and created a lake with cascading waterfalls and a view bridge. We have placed 140 unique children's rides on three playgrounds. Sports zones have been built in the park, and 40 kilometers of roads and trails are available. The park is very popular with both residents and visitors, and has already been visited by more than three million people since its opening.

We are ready for the opening of the third stage facility – MMK personnel centers for children and adults, a panoramic restaurant. The main object of the third stage is a light and music fountain, see the figures there, with the symbolic name "Steel Heart of the Motherland". It was designed specifically for our city, and we are now going to launch it.

"Attraction" continues its development. Next year, we have planned to launch a children's entertainment center with an area of 10 thousand square meters. Today, the thermal complex is undergoing an expert examination, which we are going to start building this year and launch next year.

The hockey academy project is almost ready. We will also start in November and launch it by the end of next year.

Work has begun on the design of a hotel and a residential complex with an area of 600 thousand square meters.

We have already passed an expert review of the project, as Alexey Leonidovich [Teksler] said, on the multifunctional medical center.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, we are ready to open the third stage, our central project is a unique fountain. Therefore, allow us to start the operation of this fountain, this queue.

Vladimir Putin: I am happy to do this, I am happy to allow it.

Vladimir Rashnikov: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Viktor Filippovich, I would like to thank your entire team and you for what you are doing in the social sphere. All of you work in the best traditions of domestic business and live according to well-known rules: where you work, there you develop cities and your localities. I know that this is a tradition of your entire team, your entire management team. I would like to thank you for this and wish you further success.

Please, Denis Valentinovich, do you have anything to add?

Dmitry Manturov [First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Federation]: Yes, thank you very much, Mr President.

Very briefly, if I may say so. First of all, I would also like to join in congratulating our metallurgists. The industry, despite the sanctions pressure, shows its stability. Metallurgists quickly adapted to the conditions in which they found themselves in 2022.

At the end of 2022, you instructed us to revise the strategy for the development of metallurgy. Thus, we fully meet the current geopolitical realities and global trends in metallurgy and the task of achieving technological sovereignty of the Russian industry. All these factors dictate the need to strengthen work on new investment projects.

Today, a lot of them have been planned in the industry as a whole – for 3.5 trillion rubles. The projects are aimed at expanding capacities, updating fixed assets, developing further processing areas, increasing the level of automation and reducing the man-made impact on the environment.

The task associated with all this also concerns the gradual achievement of raw material sovereignty of the industry. For this purpose, special emphasis will be placed on the development of deposits of manganese and chromium ores in ferrous metallurgy, tin in non-ferrous metallurgy, and bauxite and nepheline in aluminum. The same applies to ilmenite as the main raw material for titanium production.

And, of course, another very important area is the maximum involvement of rare and rare earth metals in the economy. Anton Andreevich [Alikhanov] mentioned several projects in this part, but it is important that oxides and concentrates are used as much as possible in all processing industries.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Mr President, for the attention you pay to the manufacturing industry and metallurgy as a core industry, and I am confident that all these tasks that the industry faces will be carried out within its capabilities.

Thanks for attention.

Vladimir Putin: I have already mentioned what places the country occupies in the global production of certain types of metallurgical industry, but one of the key indicators is, of course, steel production. In 2023, compared to the volume of 2022, steel production in the country increased by 6.3 percent, by 4.5 million tons, a total of 76 million steel were produced.

This is a very good indicator, which shows that in general, the metallurgical industry in Russia is developing successfully. The index of metallurgical production in 2023 amounted to 103.3 percent. A confident, good indicator, good, confident growth.

I once again congratulate everyone on the upcoming holiday. It is still a few days away, and the working week is still ahead, but I would like to congratulate everyone on Metallurgist's Day and thank everyone once again for the results of our work and wish them success.

All the best! [My Emphasis]

Russia’s political-economy is structured very differently than most. IMO, it would be very wise for those wanting to make America great again to study how and what Russia does as its so-called central planning is actually done as a cooperative between the state, industry and most importantly workers—planning isn’t done by some central bureau and its ministers as is commonly assumed by most in the West. And as described, industries are part of the society and have thus evolved to be socially responsible, which is another vast difference from the West as being socially and environmentally responsible is seen as cutting into profits. It can be said that in Russia Corporate Charters aim at a different primary goal, which is the advancement of society/state instead of remuneration of stockholders; and while management is important, the primary workforce is recognized as the engine that actually makes the enterprise operate properly—again, a vastly different POV from that prevailing in the West.

My American readers ought to ask themselves why the Rust Belt was allowed to become the Rust Belt and think of Billy Joel’s song “Allentown” and ask if it was immigrants that caused all those factories to be closed down. They might also want to review what fueled the growth of American industry in the 19th Century and who were employed in that process, and what federal government policy was that facilitated that. And finally, they will want to ask why the USA has never had an actual industrial policy except during WW2 and dropped it soon after. And relative to that, they ought to ponder how Trump will succeed to make America great again when he utterly failed in that task during his first term as if he survives, he’ll likely become the 47th POTUS.

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