In Mariupol, the Donetsk Oblast Azov Sea port city of 450,000 people more than 800 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, a protest against air pollution from billionaire oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s steel plants drew at least 3,000 people fed up with inhaling Ukraine’s dirtiest air.
“We want to breathe,” people chanted during the protest on Sept. 29.
The crowd may have numbered up to 5,000 people, according to Ivan Stanislavsky, a local journalist working for Mariupol.tv.
Mariupol has the dirtiest air among Ukraine’s 39 biggest cities due to emissions from the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works and the Azov Stal steel plant. Both plants belong to the Metinvest Group, owned by Akhmetov.
“(There will be) a layer of black graphite dust on a windowsill near an open window after two or three hours,” said Stanislavsky.
The most dangerous pollutants in Mariupol’s air produced by these plants include formaldehyde and tiny particles of metal dust.
“Rinat, I want to live!” was among the many inscriptions on signs held by the protesters.
According to Ekoltava, a Ukrainian association of experts and ecological activists, each resident of Mariupol is exposed ten times more industrial pollution than the average Ukrainian.
And the consequences are grim: One in five in the city dies from lung cancer, and the local cemetery is said to be the largest in Europe.
Difference in priorities
While city residents and activists came to Theater Square in Mariupol wearing medical masks and respirators, the local authorities complained the event was unauthorized and interfered with the preparation for Mariupol’s City Day celebration, according to the official website of the city council.
The protest was preceded by another one on June 5, when 1,000 people took part in a protest called “I want to breathe.”
But the situation has not improved since then, according to Stanislavsky.
Metinvest’s reaction
Metinvest, which owns the plants in the city that produces most of the pollutants, responded next day to the mass protest by issuing information about what the company has done to modernize its plants over the past two years.
According to Metinvest’s official website, the company’s “green” investments in its two Mariupol plants have increased by 5.6 times since 2017 and reached some $21.4 million in 2018.
Plus, over the next two years emissions from the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works are to be halved, according to Taras Shevchenko, the general director of the works.
In contrast, Akhmetov has seen his own wealth increase by $1.21 billion since the beginning of the year, according to Bloomberg.
This story was updated to include comments from Metinvest in reaction to the protests.
The video shows Mariupol citizens chanting “I want to breathe!” during a protest against air pollution from billionaire oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s steel plants on Sept. 29. More than 3,000 people fed up with inhaling Ukraine’s dirtiest air took part in the protest.
