In 1881 the industrial extraction of iron ore from the near region began, alongside other developments such as the construction of the Kryvyi Rih railway.

By 1896 there were 20 mines producing over 1,000,000 tonnes of ore in the Kryvyi Rih Basin, and the population had exploded though the toll on the health of the working men had begun to be noticed.

[3] In 1931 the chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR - Grigori (Sergo) Ordzhonikidze signed a decree ordering its construction[4] and the same year the foundation stone of the metallurgical works was laid, workers included prison labourers, and initially German and Americans as well.

In August 1934 the first metal was produced at Kryvorizhstal;[1] then known as 'Kryvyi Rih Metallurgical Works' (Криворожский металлургический комбинат)[4] Before the onset second world war the works operated 3 blast furnaces (of 3,160m3) and 2 open hearth furnaces along with a heat and power Kryvorizhstal, in 1941 a blooming mill of 1.7 million tonnes p.a.

[5] Prior to occupation by German military forces equipment and workers were evacuated to Nizhny Tagil in Siberia.

Construction of the plant in Dolynska town of Kirovohrad Oblast began back in 1985 as a joint project of the USSR, Romania, Slovakia, Germany and Bulgaria.

In 2007, Romania and Slovakia, the main construction partners, withdrew from the project and expressed a desire to return their investment.

$1.5 billion was spent on the project, but 30 years after the collapse of the USSR, the enterprise never started working, and its readiness remained at 65%.