Metinvest Polytechnic, Ukraine’s first private mining and metals university, is celebrating its fifth anniversary. To mark the occasion, Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group, sent letters of appreciation to its employees, lecturers, researchers and partners.
This recognises the contribution of everyone who was there at the outset of the new university, which trains production leaders capable of overcoming complex technological challenges and driving innovative change in the industry.
Tetiana Petruk, Chief Sustainability Officer at Metinvest, said: “The university has been operating successfully for five years now. We have our first cohort of master’s degree students and dozens of professional development programmes, and we feel genuine support from Metinvest Polytechnic in training our production workforce. We are faced with the task of addressing a staff shortage — Metinvest currently has nearly 4,000 vacancies — specifically through training specialists in-house. We have ambitious plans ahead, and we hope that Metinvest Polytechnic will remain a flagship of technical education in Ukraine.”
Metinvest, the university’s founder, is the largest investor in technical education in the country. The Group has invested UAH513 million in creating the material base and developing the university. Metinvest also fully or partly covers tuition fees and provides scholarships to the top students.
Education through practice
Metinvest Polytechnic was the first institution in Ukraine to implement the idea of integrating large business into technical education. The educational process involves not only academics, but also leading engineers and managers from Metinvest. Each educational programme prepares students to make specific decisions. They are involved in real business projects, and graduates receive career offers in the country’s industrial hubs.
Over the past five years, Metinvest Polytechnic has enrolled more than 1,080 students in bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate programmes. Overall, 970 participants have completed advanced training courses in metallurgy, mining and soft skills development, while 4,150 Metinvest employees have undergone occupational safety training and language courses. In addition, 267 master’s students have already graduated from the university.
All students attend offline sessions and undertake industrial internships at Metinvest’s enterprises across Ukraine — in Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia and Kamianske — as well as at production sites abroad. In 2024, the university launched its first international internships at Promet Steel in Bulgaria. In June this year, students began internships at Danieli, a global leader in industrial innovation in Italy and Austria.
Strong partnerships
Metinvest Polytechnic has established cooperation with more than 30 research and educational institutions, including leading technical universities in Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Latvia and Ukraine.
The university was the first in Ukraine to join the global Vision Zero initiative, a movement for zero workplace injuries.
Since its earliest days, Metinvest Polytechnic has supported the country’s defenders: 26 veterans are studying here, 10 of them through a partnership with the Heart of Azovstal project.
In addition, Metinvest Polytechnic has become the educational partner of the Community Recovery Academy project initiated by the Association of Ukrainian Cities and the NGO Mariupol Reborn. The university team developed training modules for 25 teams across all regions who are working on strategies to rebuild their communities after the war.
Science without borders
Over the past five years, Metinvest Polytechnic’s lecturers have published more than 230 academic articles, obtained 10 patents and authored 15 textbooks and 12 monographs.
The university publishes the Scientific Journal of Metinvest Polytechnic, “Series: Technical Sciences”, which features papers on metallurgy, energy, mining, occupational safety, ecology and the application of IT in production. The journal is recognised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, as well as by scholars at the national level.
The international scientific and technical conference MININGMETALTECH, initiated by Metinvest Polytechnic, has become a platform for discussing ‘green’ technologies, resource conservation and digitalisation.
The launch of new specialisations in digital technologies, environmental engineering and energy efficiency lies ahead.
Oleksandr Povazhnyi, the rector of the university, shared the plans: “We are laying the foundation for work in the post-war period: preserving scientific and intellectual potential, and implementing specialised educational programmes such as ‘Metallurgy Modernisation Management’.”
