The Only Source of Domestic Uranium Ore: The State Combine at Zhovti Vody

Where does the very first raw material for the fuel used in Ukraine’s nuclear power plants come from? The only company in the country mining that raw material, uranium ore, is the state enterprise Eastern Mining and Processing Combine (Східний гірничо-збагачувальний комбінат, abbreviated SkhidHZK). The company describes itself as the only enterprise in the country that mines uranium ore and produces natural-uranium concentrate.

Its head office is in Zhovti Vody, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and most of its mines are in the neighboring Kirovohrad Oblast. The number of reactors and the switch in fuel-assembly suppliers are covered in our article on Ukraine’s nuclear reactors. Here, we trace the company’s history at the stage before it becomes fuel—mining the ore—and its situation as of 2026.

From the 1951 Founding to the First Concentrate

According to the company’s own history, the combine was established on the basis of an iron-ore mine by a decision of the USSR Council of Ministers on July 24, 1951. The first ore was extracted at the “Nova” mine in 1956, a hydrometallurgical plant for turning ore into concentrate was completed in 1958, and the first concentrate was obtained in 1959.

Timeline

Three Mines and a Concentrate Plant

The company’s official site lists three mines.

• Inhulska mine: near Kropyvnytskyi, working the underground Michurinske and Tsentralne deposits. According to the company, mining at the Michurinske deposit began in 1969 and kept a design capacity of one million tonnes a year from 1975 to 1989.
• Smolinska mine: in the town of Smolino, working the underground Vatutinske deposit. According to the company, underground mining there is currently halted, and sand is now extracted at an open pit.
• Novokostiantynivska mine: in Kirovohrad Oblast, working a deposit found in 1975. The company calls this deposit “the largest in Europe” and has a plan to increase mining to 1.5 million tonnes a year.

The ore that is mined becomes concentrate at a hydrometallurgical plant in the northern part of Zhovti Vody. The company describes this concentrate as “the raw material for making nuclear fuel for Ukraine’s power plants.” The plant also has a workshop producing the sulfuric acid used to make the concentrate.

The home page of the company’s site says “three uranium mines,” while the company profile page says “two operating uranium mines.” Underground mining at the Smolinska mine is halted.

How Much Is Being Mined?

“2% of the World” and “Up to 40% of Domestic Demand”: For What Year?

On its home page, the company describes itself as one of the world’s top ten uranium producers, accounting for 2% of world mining output and covering up to 40% of the uranium needed by Ukraine’s nuclear plants. It does not say for which year.

According to the World Nuclear Association’s (WNA) estimates (updated September 21, 2026), uranium production from Ukraine’s mines has fallen as follows.

The 1,200 tonnes in 2015 is about 2% of the world total, matching the company’s “2%.” The 288 tonnes in 2024 is about 0.5%.

As a benchmark for how much is needed, Canada’s Cameco Corporation stated in a February 2023 announcement that the nine reactors at the Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, and South Ukraine nuclear plants would need, in the form of uranium hexafluoride, roughly 15.3 million kilograms of uranium (kgU) from 2024 to 2035. Divided over 12 years, that is an average of roughly 1,275 tonnes a year.

Becoming Fuel Material in Canada

Concentrate does not become reactor fuel as it is. It goes through “conversion” into uranium hexafluoride, “enrichment” to raise the proportion of fissile uranium-235, and “fabrication” into fuel assemblies.

The state nuclear power company Energoatom and Cameco Corporation announced on February 8, 2023, that they had agreed on commercial terms under which Cameco would supply, over the 12 years from 2024 to 2035, the full amount of uranium hexafluoride (uranium and conversion services) needed for the nine reactors. The agreement also includes an option to expand the supply if the six reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant return to Energoatom’s operation.

According to the World Nuclear Association’s news site (WNN), the two companies signed a final contract in Canada on April 11, 2023. It reports that this set in motion an arrangement under which all of the uranium mined by the Eastern Combine is shipped to Canada, converted, and supplied as uranium hexafluoride to be sent on for enrichment.

Seized Accounts and Conversion to a Joint-Stock Company

In 2026 the company is in the middle of restructuring. According to a company Facebook post reported by the industry site NADRA.info (March 2026), the company’s accounts were seized from January 2026, halting uranium-ore mining for a long period. The company said it planned to resume mining and processing in early April.

Law No. 4777-IX of February 10, 2026, amended the Bankruptcy Procedures Code to provide that no bankruptcy proceedings against the Eastern Combine are to be initiated until January 1, 2028, and that any that have begun are to be discontinued. This grace period was introduced by Law No. 3577-IX of 2024 and has been extended since. Law No. 4777-IX also halts enforcement action against the company and lifts seizures of its accounts and property (excluding matters such as wage payments) until the same deadline.

Ukrinform reported that in July 2026 the Cabinet decided that Energoatom would lend the company UAH 555 million, repayable by the end of 2027.

The bill to convert the company into a joint-stock company (registration number 15122) was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by the Cabinet on April 1, 2026. It provides for converting it into a joint-stock company wholly owned by the state, with conditions for later aligning it with Energoatom. The Verkhovna Rada passed it on first reading on June 30 and passed it in full in August. The Rada’s own bill database gives the date of passage as the 18th, while its Committee on Energy and Housing and Utility Services gives it as the 19th. Two draft resolutions seeking to overturn the vote were rejected on September 1, and the law was sent to the president for signature on September 3.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal stated after the vote that the next step was to align the Eastern Combine with Energoatom and bring uranium mining and power generation together into a single corporate group. As of September 2026, the ministry responsible for the company is the Ministry of Energy.