Donetsk, Jul 5 — DAN. Russia’s Uralvagonzavod research and production corporation and the Yuzhny Mining and Metallurgical Complex (YuGMK) of the Donetsk People’s Republic have signed a cooperation agreement, YuGMK told the Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday.

“The Uralvagonzavod concern and the YuGMK signed an agreement on cooperation at the Innoprom international industrial exhibition in Yekaterinburg, ” the company said. “The parties agreed to pool their efforts towards innovative development of the DPR and the LPR.”

The agreement aims to expand economic, cooperation and scientific ties between the two enterprises and contribute to their steady development. Its objectives include modernization, provision of supplies and participation in current industrial and economic programs.

“The agreement is an important step towards establishing long-term partnership and mutually advantageous relations between Russia’s large, innovative and strategic business and the highly effective and vigorously developing Donbass industry. I’m confident that our cooperation not only will be successful, but also will raise the integration of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republic with the Russian economy to a whole new level, ” YuGMK Director General Yevgeny Yurchenko said.

Donbass metallurgical companies have a display stand at the Innoprom-2022 exhibition in Yekaterinburg with YuGMK branches accounting for most of the presentations.

YuGMK is comprised of seven enterprises located in Makeyevka, Yenakiyevo, Komsomolsk, Alchevsk, Lugansk and Stakhanov. The produce coke and byproducts such as ammonium sulphate and sulphuric acid. Blast furnace shops produce cast iron for further processing and for sale. Converter process provides for the production of various types of steel. Rolling plants manufacture all kinds of rolled steel, from sheets and graded steel to reinforced steel and wire. YuGMK also sells fluxing limestone, crushed rock and ferroalloys.

YuGMK was established in 2021. It currently employs more than 22,000 people.  The company’s wage level exceeds the DPR’s average two-fold.

The Uralvagonzavod concern is a world leader in the production of armored vehicles and artillery, Russia’s largest defense enterprises and the sole developer and producer of armored vehicles. It is the leader on the Russian market of railway equipment. The concern brings together more than 40 enterprises, design bureaus and research institutes in Russia and elsewhere.*jk