‘We Need to Survive’: Zelensky’s Hometown Faces Budget Cuts After Factory Shutdowns

When a steel plant stops in Kryvyi Rih, the losses reach far beyond its factory gates. Fewer shifts mean less work for contractors, lower tax receipts for the city and less money for the services residents rely on. That chain of losses is now forcing the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky to cut its municipal budget and postpone some development projects, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih’s defense council.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. However, he said the city would prioritize keeping schools, kindergartens, hospitals, water supplies, and heating systems running. Vilkul said ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the Inhulets and Southern mining and processing plants, and the Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Plant were all idle. Other major businesses were producing at no more than a quarter of their prewar levels leaving many companies that supply or service them without work. He blamed Russian strikes and difficulties shipping products through ports. The operating status of the other plants was not independently verified. ArcelorMittal confirmed last week that it could not safely restart its Kryvyi Rih operations. The company said its facilities had been hit four times in five weeks, most recently on Sept. 21. Five employees were killed and 17 injured in those attacks, with production facilities suffering extensive damages. ArcelorMittal said it would focus on preserving the site so a future restart would remain possible. Other Topics of Interest Estonia Slams Russian ‘Sabotage’ After Arson Attack on Defense Company Estonia, an EU and NATO member state along the alliance’s eastern flank, has accused Russia of several hybrid provocations since the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For the city, the immediate concern is both employment and the budget. Vilkul said industrial taxes pay for public-sector wages, infrastructure maintenance, pipe and boiler-house repairs, and social services. He described next year’s budget outlook as poor, though he did not give a figure for the planned cuts or identify which projects would be delayed. “But this isn’t about development. It’s about survival. Right now, we have to survive,” he said. Vilkul said municipal utilities had been asked to help displaced industrial workers find jobs. The city’s water and heating companies currently have around 1,000 vacancies between them. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.