Kryvyi Rih metropolitan area, or Kryvbas, is a metropolitan area in central (by the most part) and southern Ukraine. With a population of one million, it is one of seven largest metropolitan regions (million-plus each) in Ukraine. It consists of a couple big industrial cities and some smaller ones, townsides and rural areas.
From east to west, the region includes the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Zhovti Vody, Oleksandriia, Dolynska, Novyi Buh as well as parts of the more rural raions and (factually) includes far more territories in central and southern parts of Ukraine. The Kryvyi Rih metro area doesn't have an administrative center, each city in the area has its own administration.
History
Russian Empire
The presence of iron ore in the regions around Kryvyi Rih has been known since at least 1781 and was rumoured before;[1] being known to the ancients.[2] Throughout the 1800s the region was investigated for its mineral wealth. Iron ore of 70% iron content and manganese ores were found. In 1881 the industrial extraction of iron ore from the near region began, alongside other developments such as the construction of the Kryvyi Rih railway. By 1884 over 100,000 tons of iron ore had been extracted, and the railway though Kryvyi Rih (the Yekateryninska railway), 477 versts (505,6km) long, from Yasynuvata station via Kryvyi Rih to Dolynska station had been opened.[1] The production expanded rapidly in the next years, as it did in other industrialized regions and countries. By 1896 there were 20 mines producing over 1,000,000 tonnes of ore in the Kryvyi Rih Basin, and the population had exploded though the toll on the health of the working men had begun to be noticed.[1] Industrial expansion continued in the region up to 1917. Production dropped during the first world war due to lack of labour.[1]
Kryvyi Rih c. 1905
USSR
After the formation of the Soviet Union and the expulsion of Austro-Hungarian forces and then anti-communist forces under Anton Denikin occupying the region relative normalcy was resumed.[1] Planning for the Kryvorizhstal began in 1929, with the intention being to produce an integrated steel plant taking iron ore and carbon all the way to finished steel products.[3] In 1931 the chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR - Grigori (Sergo) Ordzhonikidze signed a decree ordering its construction[4] and the same year the foundation stone of the metallurgical works was laid, workers included prison labourers, and initially German and Americans as well. In August 1934 the first metal was produced at Kryvorizhstal;[1] then known as 'Kryvyi Rih Metallurgical Works' (криворожский металлургический комбинат)[4]
Before the onset second world war the works operated 3 blast furnaces (of 3,160m3) and 2 open hearth furnaces along with a heat and power Kryvorizhstal, in 1941 a blooming mill of 1.7 million tonnes p.a. and a fourth blast furnace and a third open hearth furnace came on line shortly before nazi occupation.[5]
World War II
Prior to occupation by German military forces equipment and workers were evacuated to Nizhny Tagil in Siberia.[5] During the German administration (from the 14th of August 1941 to the 22nd of February 1944[1]), the Kryvorizhstal was destroyed.[6]
Post-war period
After the recapture of the area the complex was rebuilt, and continued to grow again; blast furnace No.7 was built in 1962, in 1970 blast furnace No.8 was built making the Kryvorizhstal the largest in Europe, and in 1974 blast furnace No.9 was opened[1] the biggest in the world with a volume of 5000m3.[7]
Independent Ukraine
From the 1990s until 2004, once united and state-owned industries went through a hard and scandal-ridden process of privatization.
Kryvyi Rih Oxidized Ores Mining and Beneficiation Works (KGZKOR)
Construction of the plant in Dolynska town of Kirovohrad Oblast began back in 1985 as a joint project of the USSR, Romania, Slovakia, Germany and Bulgaria. In the early 1990s, construction of the plant was frozen. Following negotiations among the investors, Bulgaria and Germany then exited the project. The main shareholders remained Ukraine with 56.4% of the shares, Romania – 28% and Slovakia – 15.6%.
In 2007, Romania and Slovakia, the main construction partners, withdrew from the project and expressed a desire to return their investment. Ukraine's debt under KGZKOR as of January 1, 2007 to Romania was $353 million, Slovakia – $115.1 million, Bulgaria – $1.4 million, Germany – $47.34 million. The total debt was $517.43 million.
Romania planned to sell its stake in KGZKOR to steel & mining group ArcelorMittal on condition that the group doubled steel production at its Romanian plant ArcelorMittal Galati.
ArcelorMitall also made an offer to Ukraine for KGZKOR, but a planned tender was canceled unexpectedly following a face-off between the Ukrainian government and the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko.
$1.5 billion was spent on the project, but 30 years after the collapse of the USSR, the enterprise never started working, and its readiness remained at 65%.
In January 2022 the Kryvyi Rih-based company Rudomain LLC acquired part of property of the Ukraine-owned unfinished industrial giant for ₴451 million (which equaled around $18 million).[8]
KGZKOR is about 70% finished, but still requires another $800 million in investment to finish construction.[9]
Economy
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2011)
The economy is largely based on industry and exports.
All public transport companies in the Kryvyi Rih are local government or privately owned. The Kryvyi Rih Railway as part of Cisdnieper Railways is integrated into the national Ukrainian Railways system, for both passenger and cargo services.
Road transport
The motorway network of Kryvyi Rih includes dozens of local roads crossing the region in addition to the motorway, mostly used by through traffic. Other ways have a more regional function. Both have missing links, in various stages of planning. Some missing sections are currently not planned to be constructed.
Air transport
Kryvyi Rih Airport is the intercontinental airport for region and is within 17km of the city area.
Notes
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kryvyi Rih.
1 2 N. A. Gurov (July 1979). "Phases of large growth — The 45th anniversary of the Krivorozhstal' Kryvorizhstal". Metallurgist. 23 (7). Springer New York: 439–443. doi:10.1007/BF00736640. ISSN0026-0894. Krivorozhstal' Kryvorizhstal. Translated from Metallurg, No. 7, pp. 6–8, July, 1979.
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Kryvyi Rih, also transliterated as Krivoy Rog, is a city in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kryvyi Rih Raion and its subordinate Kryvyi Rih urban hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The city is part of the Kryvyi Rih Metropolitan Region. Its population is estimated at 603,904, making it the seventh-most populous city in Ukraine and the second largest by area. Kryvyi Rih is claimed to be the longest city in Europe.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is Ukraine's largest integrated steel company, founded in 1934 and located in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine.
Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Basin, commonly known by the portmanteau Kryvbas is an important economic and historical region stretched between central and southern Ukraine around the city of Kryvyi Rih, specializing in iron ore mining, steel industry and some uranium ore mining in the past 20th century. It is arguably the main iron ore region of Eastern Europe.
Stadion Metalurh is a multi-purpose stadium in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. It is located in Metallurgical District, in the neighborhood called lit.'Socic Town'.
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second largest steel producer in the world, with an annual crude steel production of 78 million metric tonnes as of 2022. It is ranked 197th in the 2022 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's largest corporations. It employs around 154,000 people and its market capital is $20 billion. The total value of company assets is estimated to be around $94 billion.
Kiltseva is a station of the Kryvyi Rih Metrotram. It opened on 2 May 1989, as the last station of the second stage, and is the southern terminus of the system.
Zhovti Vody is a city in Kamianske Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located on the Zhovta River approximately 70 km (43 mi) north of the metropolitan area's center, Kryvyi Rih. It hosts the administration of Zhovti Vody urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: 42,052.
Metal production, in particular iron and steel industry, is the dominant heavy industry in Ukraine. Ukraine is the world's eighth largest producer and third largest exporter of iron and steel (2007). Ukrainian iron and steel industry accounts for around 2% of worldwide crude steel output, 5% to 6% of the national gross domestic product and 34% of Ukrainian export revenue. In 2007 it employed 420,000 people – 10% of industrial labor and 2% of the total workforce. It has the highest, by a wide margin, revealed comparative advantage of all branches of the Ukrainian economy. The industry peaked at 42.8 million tonnes in 2007 but has been gravely affected by the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and declined to 29.8 million tonnes in 2009.
Inhulets Iron Ore dressing Works (InGZK) (Russian: InGOK) is a mining and processing plant which produces metallurgical products. The company is based in the Inhulets exclave neighborhood of Inhuletskyi District, Kryvy Rih, Ukraine. Inhulets GZK sources iron ore from the deposits of ferruginous quartzite at the Inhulets deposit.
Northern Iron Ore Beneficiation Works (PivnGZK) was built and launched in Kryvyi Rih in 1963 and is one of several iron ore dressing complexes around Kryvyi Rih. Along with Ingulets Iron Ore dressing Works and Central Iron Ore Enrichment Works, it belongs to Ukrainian holding company Metinvest.
Central Iron Ore Enrichment Works (CGZK) specializes in processing and production of raw materials for the steel industry, merchant concentrate with an average Fe content of 65.0% to 68.2% and pellets with an average Fe content of 63.9%. It is the only mine in Ukraine, that simultaneously uses open-pit quartzite fields and underground mining.
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Oleksandr Yuriyovych Vilkul, also known as Aleksandr Yuryevich Vilkul is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who is currently serving as Head of the Ukrainian Military Administration of Kryvyi Rih. He has previously served as Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
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FC Hirnyk Kryvyi Rih is a Ukrainian football club based in Kryvyi Rih. The club adapted its name in 2003 and originally as "Gornyak". Later the club's name was changed to Hirnyk.
Mauro Longobardo is a Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.
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Kryvyi Rih 
Oleksandriia 
Zhovti Vody 
