Kryvbas
Kryvbas is an important economic region in central Ukraine, specializing in iron ore mining and the steel industry. It is arguably the main iron ore region of Eastern Europe. Named after the city of Kryvyi Rih, the region occupies the southwestern part of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, as well as a small neighbouring part of the Kirovohrad Oblast.
The region has major deposits of iron ore and some other metallurgical ores. To exploit them, several large mining companies were founded there in the middle of the 20th century. Most of them are located in Kryvyi Rih.
Kryvorizhstal is the largest and most up-to-date steel company in the region, and in the country. It includes ore facilities and a major steel mill. Other ore companies supply their raw materials to either Kryvorizhstal or steel mills outside the region.
With the exception of Kryvorizhstal, owned by Mittal Steel, the steel companies of the region are controlled by either the Privat Group or the SCM. These were one state-owned industries. From the 1990s until 2004, after Ukraine declared independence and worked to establish capitalism, these industries went through difficulties and scandals as they became privatized.
A major mining and processing factory was under construction in the early 21st century in the neighboring city of Dolynska. This advanced-technology project is co-funded by the governments of Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia.
