Vladimir Boiko has sat in the director's chair of Ukraine's second largest steel mill for 18 years but now feels the weight of the world as never before.
The Ilyich steelworks has cut production by 70 per cent as demand for steel slumps in the global crisis. Mr Boiko is fretting about his 54,000 staff - 20 per cent of the working population in this eastern town on the Sea of Azov.
"With the money we have, we have the possibility to withstand the crisis for five, six months. After that? God only knows," said Mr Boiko.
"There has never been a crisis like there is today," he said, drawing on a cigarette under a large portrait of Soviet state founder Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, after whom the steel complex was named.
Ilyich, a sort of co-operative owned by 30,000 of its workers, is one of two steelworks in Mariupol. The other, Azovstal, is the country's third largest.
Puffing smokestacks from the two plants - powerhouses of Communist and post-Soviet times - dominate the skyline in the town, a focal point in the heavily industrialised, Russian-speaking east of Ukraine.
Gaudy, brightly lit casinos and countless electronic goods stores offer evidence of a recent economic boom - alongside ornate post-war buildings which give way, in the suburbs, to modest individual houses with bursting vegetable gardens.
Outside the Ilyich plant, a tanker offers cheap milk to mainly elderly women shoppers, a reflection of the Soviet-style banner inside the plant: "Your Factory - Your Family".
The economy has grown an average seven per cent annually since 2000 thanks to higher prices for steel - Ukraine is the world's eighth largest producer and the sector contributes 30 per cent to GDP. Demand grew as residents got richer and began borrowing. But now people fear a new bout of recession as the global crisis, gripping former Soviet master Russia to the north, spreads to Ukraine. The hryvnia currency hit a historic low last month and the International Monetary Fund approved a €12.3 billion loan to shore up the banking system.
Although Soviet days are a distant past for many, especially the young, people want and expect the kind of social protection that was offered under communism - cheap housing, employment and healthcare as well as sports clubs and children's daycare.
In the good times, the absence of that safety net was less marked. Disposable incomes in Mariupol rose in the past two years to become second only to the capital Kiev, reports one rating agency.
But residents now feel the impact. Mr Boiko has seen no redundancies, but has cut pay by 40 per cent on average and many workers are sitting at home. That creates endless personal catastrophes.
Inflation stands at 25 per cent annually. Many took advantage of the retail banking boom, taking out loans to buy new apartments or cars.
Oleksander, an Ilyich worker waiting for the bus home, said chances of finding extra work were low.
"There is little work here. The salary is peanuts and to find work in Mariupol is hard. The salary will be less than the minimum wage," he said.
Sergei, also waiting by the factory gate, says his family's first belt-tightening will be during New Year festivities.
"There won't be any overly fancy celebrations. This is a hard situation," he said. "I've taken a loan for the car, but so what? I'm not going to make the payments. How can I?"
Adding to their woes, many in eastern Ukraine deposited their savings in Prominvestbank, which spent two months in receivership after rumours of a shady takeover caused a run.
Just when they need cash, depositors are barred from making withdrawals. Iliych now buys cash in Kiev and makes it available to employees at local Prominvestbank branches.
The slump in the steel sector led to a 20 per cent plunge in industrial output last month and the economy shrank for the first time since 2005. The government cut its steel production forecast to 37 million tonnes from 46 million earlier.
The country's largest steel complex, owned by the world's biggest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal and Azovstal owner Metinvest have both halved production in recent months.
Ministers froze electricity and transport rates to help, but producers in return had to promise to make no layoffs.