Russian President Dmitry Medvedev chaired a session of the presidential commission for modernization and technological development of Russia’s economy that was held at the headquarters of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works today.

Before the session Dmitry Medvedev toured MMK production sites visiting oxygen-converter plant – world’s leading facility by the crude steel production volume, and a most innovative hot-rolling Mill 5000. Mill 5000 is a key component of the plate-making complex which, in addition to the Mill 5000, includes secondary steel treatment unit and continuous slab casting machine No.6. In November 2006, MMK contracted SMS-DEMAG to ship equipment and parts for the Mill 5000 designed to roll highly profitable plates with the high strength of up to X120 reaching 4,850 millimeters by width. These MMK products are used in oil-and-gas sector, shipbuilding, bridge engineering and machine building industry. In 2010 mill 5000 has reached its projected capacity of 1.5 mln tons per year. The mill has strengthened MMK foothold on the Russian market of rolled metal for pipemakers and secured MMK’s partaking in major oil-and-gas projects including Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok and Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas mains and BTS-2 and VSTO oil pipelines.

Operating those innovative facilities requires the highest education and professional qualification. For MMK this is not an issue as the city’s learning institutions offer a multilevel system of education and professional training to the potential MMK employees – from elementary and high school to college and university level. This way MMK has an opportunity to raise and employ the best professionals available in the region.

At the end of his tour of the plant, Dmitry Medvedev favored the company’s plans to commission the Mill 2000 later this year. The mill that has no analogues in Russia will produce high-quality extra strength cold-rolled steel for Russian automakers and foreign car manufacturers located in Russia. The mill will produce 2 million tons of steel products a year. The President left his autograph on the Mill 2000 construction map wishing MMK “good luck and success”.

Just before President Medvedev landed in Magnitogorsk, the Russian National Association for Innovation and IT Development (NAIRIT) issued a ranking of Russia’s top 50 most innovative companies. MMK topped the list of Russian metals and mining companies and was named the industry's most innovative company. According to MMK, the company has been the leader in the sector based on the level of its investment into technology and innovation, including technical retooling and upgrading.

About MMK
MMK is among the world's largest steel producers and is one of the leaders of Russia's steel industry. The company's operations in Russia include a large steel producing complex encompassing the entire production chain, from preparation of iron ore to downstream processing of rolled steel. MMK turns out a broad range of steel products with a predominant share of higher value added products. In 2010 MMK Group produced 11.4 mln tons of crude steel and 10.4 mln tons of commercial steel products.