Artemsil (Ukrainian: Артемсіль) or Artemsol (Russian: Артёмсоль) is a temporarily defunct state-owned industrial association for salt production in the Donetsk oblast, Ukraine. One of the largest in the world. It ceased its operations because of Russian forces advancing the region and air striking the plant facilities.

Artemsil
Founded1976
Headquarters
Ukraine

History

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Packages of Artemsil salt

Artemsil was formed in 1976.[citation needed] It consists of five mines with a complete cycle of salt production, auxiliary services, significant housing and social funds. The number of workers is 3,780. Production activity has been counted since 1881, when the Bryantsev mine was put into operation. Mine No. 1 has been in operation since 1898. The administrative center is the city of Soledar.

The association "Artemsil" extracts and processes the mineral halite, providing the population and industry with table rock salt, and metallurgy, the chemical industry, agriculture and other industries with high-quality and cheap sodium chloride for industrial use. The company extracts about 70 percent of Ukraine's salt.[1] The facility also exported its product to European countries such Hungary, Poland, Georgia, and Moldova.[2]

On March 3, 2020, it was decided to put "Artemsil" up for privatization through an auction,[3] but at the end of the same year, the enterprise was removed from the list of objects allowed for privatization.[4][5]

 
Salt mine No. 4

As of the second half of May 2022, Russian forces approached Soledar. It did not stop trying to surround the Defense Forces of Ukraine in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Due to constant shelling, the work of the enterprise was stopped. The administrative building was partially destroyed, mines and warehouses were hit. The railway, which Artemsil primarily used to transport salt, is also constantly being shelled preventing shipments to other parts of the country.[6] In addition, most of the residents of Soledar had evacuated by this time and most of the workers were not there.[7]

In February 2023, the Ukrainian government sold 20 tons of Artemsil salt, as 100000 packs, 12.5$ each, to fund FPV drones for its army via the United24 website.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Ukraine to import salt as massive factory in Donbas shutdown due to war". The Kyiv Independent. 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  2. ^ "Russian troops destroyed Artemsil plant with missiles, now the salt deliveries are possible only from abroad". Mind.ua. May 28, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  3. ^ "Артемсіль рішенням Кабміну виставлять на приватизацію | РБК-Україна". 2020-03-03. Archived from the original on 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2022-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ ""Артемсіль" залишається в державній власності. ДП виключили з переліку для приватизації". Вільне радіо. 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  5. ^ "Power structure Artemsil". opendatabot.ua. 2023-07-31. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  6. ^ Pavlysh, Oleksii (May 23, 2022). "Because of the war, Artemsil has shut down: Ukraine will have to import more salt from abroad". Ukrayinska Pravda. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  7. ^ ""Артемсіль" зупинилася через постійні ворожі обстріли". www.ukrinform.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  8. ^ "Artemsil salt from legendary Soledar on sale to mark 1st anniversary of full-scale invasion". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2024-01-01.