Not many people know that the coins we are using were manufactured at the
Luhansk Equipment Manufacturing Plant. And definitely no one knows that
5,000 tons of metal were used to manufacture them. The Kyiv mint will manufacture
the next portion of metal money, and the Luhansk plant will remain the
first enterprise to master this production in Ukraine.
The Luhansk plant was not chosen at random: last century the local defense
complex enterprise intended to master coin manufacturing. The old idea
turned into reality by the end of the 20 century the plant won a tender
for the state order of coin manufacturing and began mastering the production
process. The plant was given a short term of nine months, an incredible
time compared to other mints in the world. They had to start from the very
beginning - from introducing new technologies to training employees. Equipment
was purchased abroad jointly with the NBU. They tried to deal with the
rest on their own. In cooperation with the Artemov plant of ferrous metals,
they developed a principally new coin production line. The institutes of
the National Academy of Science were also a great deal of help, but Luhansk
plant workers had to deal with the main part of the job. More than 2,000
people participated in manufacturing the first Ukrainian coins.
The Luhansk mint totally satisfied the Ukrainian demand for coin money
and even prepared a reserve for a few years. But production was forced
to shut down after fulfilling the important state order, and many talks
were started in the government on the necessity of building a new mint
in the capital. No matter how Luhansk plant workers tried to prove the
faultiness of such a step, no matter how they tried to prevent the waste
of money especially during the country's difficult time, no one listened
to them. As a result, $45 million were spent on building the new mint in
Kyiv and the engineering plant received compensation for pecuniary and
moral losses. But in late August Viktor Yushchenko signed an edict which
finally defined the future of the first Ukrainian mint: Luhansk will manufacture
semi-manufactured products and Kyiv will mint the coins.
Despite the change in plans, the Luhansk plant keeps two machines on
the stand-by, hoping to receive a state order and begin production which
they have mastered so well. Incidentally, there is an agreement on cooperation
with Kyiv colleagues in minting collectible coins and high value money.
Today, beside semi-manufactured products, the Luhansk plant manufactures
orders and medals. "Miner's Glory", "The Veteran of War", "50 years of
Liberation of Ukraine" and many other medals and orders are produced by
the Luhansk mint.







