Frontline Nikopol Pipe Plant as an overlooked symbol of resilience

Facing constant mortar and artillery fire, employees of one of Europe’s largest seamless pipe manufacturing plants in Nikopol have to travel to and from work regardless. The working day has become longer because of the war and shifts are now extended. However, most of the plant’s workers are holding on to their jobs, not planning on leaving their hometown.

The frontline is only 5 kilometers from Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The sounds of mines and shells dropping nearby have become an everyday reality. Yet the city continues to work, supporting Ukraine’s economy, which would be impossible without the people who don’t want to leave despite it all.

57-year-old Raisa Vanichkina is not leaving Nikopol and the plant where she has been working as a grinder for 9 years.

 

 

“It’s so much harder now because we have to spend 12 hours working. We can’t sleep at night because of the shelling, but in the morning, we still have to go to work. It’s hard, but we have nowhere to go. We still have to work, no matter what. I can’t leave the plant because I’ve spent my whole life here. I don’t want to give up everything and leave. Our break lasts only half an hour, so it’s hard to work night shifts from 7 pm to 7 am. I have no strength, my mental health is on edge. I really hope for the victory soon,” the woman says.

 

To reduce the risk of employee commutes, the company’s management decided to increase the length of work shifts at the plant from 8 hours to 12. There were cases when workers came under fire on their way to work. Once, an explosion blew out the bus windows. Fortunately, people were not injured. So they had to choose between the safety of employees and the additional workload.

 

Shell fragments repeatedly hit the Centravis enterprise’s territory. In some premises, windows were smashed with roofs and walls being damaged, and a security guard was injured. Now there is a large shelter in the production halls, but mortar fire hits faster than the alarm goes off. The plant has equipped additional individual shelters near workplaces with sandbags.

 

 

This facility remains a symbol of stability for many employees. As long as the plant is operating, they have jobs and hopes for tomorrow. Currently, the plant employs over 1,200 people, but it is still experiencing staff shortage. About 130 employees left the city under Russian fire, and another 136 joined ranks of the Ukrainian forces. The deployed men were replaced by women where possible. However, the production process was not fulfilled completely. 

 

“This is my home, and home feels best”

 

At the beginning of the full-scale war, 35-year-old Maryna Lisovska fled to Poland with her 9-year-old child. A month later, she returned to Nikopol to continue working at the factory she had devoted 9 years to. 

 

“We stayed in Poland for a while and came back. My family is here, my job, too. My husband serving in the army, and I have a child to raise. This is my home, and home feels best. I made a decision that I would stay here until the end,” says Maryna. 

 

Some young people also don’t want to leave their hometown and see their future in Nikopol. 20-year-old Klymentiy Ratz has been working at the plant for only 2 months, but says he likes the job and even 12-hour shifts are not a big deal.

 

“I was born and raised here and I plan to work here too. I’m not planning to leave, so I will stay until the end. I am not afraid. When the shelling starts, we follow our safety rules and immediately head to the shelter,” he says.

 

Obviously, only few can keep their cool. If the shelling becomes worse, many will have to leave the city, says 38-year-old crane operator Iryna Naumenko. She has been working for the company for 10 years. Her husband also works at Centravis, and her parents spent years at the plant. So she has no reason to leave Nikopol, but only extreme circumstances can force her to flee, she says.

 

“It’s scary to get to work under the shelling. There are drones flying, especially where I work at. That area is under constant attacks. I have been under fire, too. It’s scary when a plane swings somewhere nearby, so we go to the bomb shelter and stay there until the danger is out of reach. That’s how we work. If there is long-lasting shelling, we can stay there for an hour or two. They might attack, then after 20 minutes we go back to work,” says Iryna.

 

Some workers moved to western Uzhhorod to resume at the Centravis plant, which was set up there after the all-out war. Thanks to the skilled workers from Nikopol, the production process in Zakarpattia was established, as citizens were not really eager to work at the plant.

 

 

Since the large-scale hostilities, the Centravis plant in Nikopol has withstood numerous artillery attacks, power outages, and a complete shutdown of production. The biggest challenge for it was Russian attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. This crime completely stopped the supply of water for production. The plant was fully operational only two months later, when a new water supply system was finally built.

 

Like many other Ukrainian enterprises, the company is currently facing a number of challenges, such as the brutal situation on the frontline, increased shelling and mobilization of employees. Despite all the difficulties, the seamless pipe plant continues to operate, supplying its products to 70 countries.

 

Text: Olha Kurshevska; Photo: Danylo Dubchak