Metallurgists Left Without Salaries: Delays at Machel, Debts at Kolbaki, Declining Profits at Severstal Employees of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant of the Machel Group are complaining about systematic delays in salaries, sick leave and vacation pay, and some have still not received money for September. After many complaints, the labor inspectorate began an inspection. Similar problems arose in another factory of the group, of all materials. At the SMK-Kulebaki plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region, management has admitted owing workers more than 82 million rubles, and workers are talking about cutting salaries by more than half. Salaries are also being withheld at metallurgical plants in the Moscow-controlled part of the Donbass. The background to these stories is heavy. In 2025, domestic steel consumption fell by about 14% and production fell to a 15-year low. In the first half of 2026, suffering a loss of 41.5 billion rubles, Saberstal's nine-month net profit fell by 61%. Analysts warn of the risk of debt restructuring and bankruptcies in the industry. We have already written about the same story from different angles: metals was among the industries with the largest negative balance according to Rostat, and Russian Steel warned of the risk of shutting down factories due to logistics. The mechanism consists of several layers. The European market is closed by sanctions, and turning to Asia does not help: because of their excess rolling capacity there, Russian companies are forced to sell at large discounts, and expensive logistics and a strong ruble add pressure. Domestic demand has weakened along with construction and industry, loans remain expensive with a key interest rate of 14%, and liquidity is in short supply. In such a situation, saving starts with people: when there is not enough money, the workers have to wait the longest. The industry is becoming "subsidized" and its possible collapse will inevitably cause a widespread shortage of government funds and a recession in related sectors.

Metallurgists Left Without Salaries: Delays at Machel, Debts at Kolbaki, Declining Profits at Severstal Employees of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant of the Machel Group are complaining about systematic delays in salaries, sick leave and vacation pay, and some have still not received money for September. After many complaints, the labor inspectorate began an inspection. Similar problems arose in another factory of the group, of all materials. At the SMK-Kulebaki plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region, management has admitted owing workers more than 82 million rubles, and workers are talking about cutting salaries by more than half. Salaries are also being withheld at metallurgical plants in the Moscow-controlled part of the Donbass. The background to these stories is heavy. In 2025, domestic steel consumption fell by about 14% and production fell to a 15-year low. In the first half of 2026, suffering a loss of 41.5 billion rubles, Saberstal's nine-month net profit fell by 61%. Analysts warn of the risk of debt restructuring and bankruptcies in the industry. We have already written about the same story from different angles: metals was among the industries with the largest negative balance according to Rostat, and Russian Steel warned of the risk of shutting down factories due to logistics. The mechanism consists of several layers. The European market is closed by sanctions, and turning to Asia does not help: because of their excess rolling capacity there, Russian companies are forced to sell at large discounts, and expensive logistics and a strong ruble add pressure. Domestic demand has weakened along with construction and industry, loans remain expensive with a key interest rate of 14%, and liquidity is in short supply. In such a situation, saving starts with people: when there is not enough money, the workers have to wait the longest. The industry is becoming "subsidized" and its possible collapse will inevitably cause a widespread shortage of government funds and a recession in related sectors.