KIEV, May 16 – The modernization of the mining and metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine should be carried out in compliance with European environmental standards, President Viktor Yanukovych said.

"It is of great importance to us that the modernization of the mining and metallurgical complex should be done in such a way that we can bring our metallurgical plants in line with European environmental standards," the president said on Thursday during a ceremony marking the launch of the first sintering plant with high efficiency gas cleaning at Zaporizhstal metallurgical mill, which is part of the Metinvest Group.

The president said this was a landmark event not only for the plant, but for the entire region, as the launch of the new equipment will improve the ecological situation in the region, through cutting harmful emissions into the atmosphere by 10%.