Titanium Velta begins reconstruction of production at Byrzulivske deposit - CEO

Velta group of companies with assets in the extraction of titanium-containing ores in Novomyrhorod (Kirovohrad region) begins reconstruction and overhaul of production at Byrzulivske deposit, co-owner and CEO of the group Andriy Brodsky reported on Facebook on Friday.

"Literally these days, Velta begins reconstruction and overhaul of existing production at Byrzulivske deposit. We, Velta, are investing several tens of millions of hryvnias, because we could not do the necessary work for three years because of the war. This is not so much, but it is very significant for production," the CEO wrote.

At the same time, he noted that Velta could have stopped production due to the difficulties of work, "as our colleagues in Ukraine - the giants of the extractive sector - have already done, but still we are investing, not stopping."

According to him, after the start of the full-scale aggression, 2022 and 2023 were extremely difficult, but still profitable for Velta, as the company maintained production at almost the same level. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, it increased the salaries of employees and paid them ahead of schedule. At the same time, the group helped the army, for which all the money available at that time was used.

At the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the company was "overtaken by logistics and energy", which is why, after fluctuations on the verge of zero and loss, it later entered a peak - into the red.

"These two factors were the reason for the preservation of many other Ukrainian mining enterprises. And my management also offered me exactly this course of action: to stop production and dismiss people. But I decided to work in spite of everything. This is the second time I have made such a decision. The first time was in 2014, when a fire destroyed two-thirds of our production facilities. Then it was very, very difficult for us, no one believed in us, but we rebuilt everything and confidently moved forward in two years. So at the end of 2023, I and the whole team began a long and difficult path," the CEO stated.

The group once again reviewed logistics, reduced all possible costs, switched to survival mode, postponed current repairs, which in turn began to affect production volumes.

"And this month we are already starting to stabilize, we have no tax debts, we are leveling out salary payments, starting major repairs and replacing equipment. We are already designing new capacities with new minerals at the Byrzulivske deposit. It turns out that we have a very large additional potential," Brodsky noted.