#HistoricalFact
The contribution of Belgian industrialists to the development of Donbass

📆 In the 19th and 20th centuries, Belgium was the largest foreign investor in the Russian Empire, ahead of France, Great Britain, and Germany; a significant part of that capital went specifically to Donbass.

🪨 In our region, with the active cooperation of Russian and Belgian industrialists, the following were built: the Petrovsky Plant (the modern Yenakiyevo Metallurgical Plant), the Verovsky Mine, as well as 80 "Koppe" system coke ovens and a power plant.

🇷🇺 By the end of the 19th century, 133 of the 227 Belgian companies in Russia were operating specifically in Donbass. A concern of Russian and Belgian industrialists smelted about 65% of Russia's steel in the region.

🇧🇪 The Belgian presence was not limited to factories though. Entire Belgian settlements with characteristic red-brick architecture sprang up around the enterprises. To this day, quite a few two-storey houses, villas, parks, and schools in the old Belgian style have stood to this day in Donbass.

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