Pavlograd Chemical Plant - Corruption
The thirst for quick profits supports dishonest business representatives and gives the green light to the flourishing of shady schemes among power structures. The actions of some representatives of the government nullify all the state's achievements in the fight against corruption.
Explosive brand "ERA" is a safe and affordable means of quarrying. Manufactured at the state-owned research and production enterprise "NVO Pavlograd Chemical Plant". In 2015 private manufacturers of emulsion explosives resorted to unsuccessful attempts to discredit "ERA", inventing baseless accusations, manipulating the consciousness of citizens for their own profit. The public organization "Ecological World" took an unprincipled position in this case, apparently defending the interests of a competing company. It was this organization that initiated a number of pseudo-actions and submitted to the council a decision to ban the use of "ERA".
Zhytomyr region is known for its powerful enterprises for the extraction and sale of crushed stone - the main raw material in the production of most building materials. By 2015 the industry was experiencing a significant drop in demand for crushed stone. Thanks to the activities of a number of crushed plants, the regional budget has been replenished over the years. The actions of the local authorities aimed at monopolizing and concentrating the main volume of crushed stone production in the hands of one Unigran group of companies led to a collapse in the region. The Zhytomyr Regional Council decided to ban the use of a certain brand of explosives used in quarrying, arguing that these actions are concerned about the environmental safety of the region.
But in fact, the purpose of such a ban is the promotion of industrial explosives by the private manufacturer Unigran Service on the market. The director of this company is Dynyak Sergey Vasilievich, concurrently a deputy of the Zhytomyr Regional Council and a member of the commission on the Chernobyl disaster, ecology and the use of natural resources. He is the initiator of this unlawful decision in the regional council. The result of it can be (and probably will be) the taking of an entire sector of the region's economy under the control of one association, contrary to the rules of free competition and the legislation of Ukraine.
It was not surprising that such requests come precisely from the Zhytomyr region, because the private company Zahidukrvybuhprom, which provides explosive services to quarries and also produces its own explosives, operates here. Judging by the volume of sales and prices for their services, it was clear that the company was going through not the best times, but this did not give the right to play a dirty game, for the market of explosive services, ignoring the law and all the rules of open competition.
As soon as the NSDC (National Security Council of Ukraine) makes a decision to provide the Ukrainian army with weapons of its own production, and not purchased, in accordance with the decision on the development of its own missile weapons (press release of the NSDC dated August 20, 2021), - this immediately resuscitated a criminal case fabricated by the military prosecutor's office back in 2016 regarding the events that took place at the plant in 2011-2015. According to the plot of this criminal case, according to detectives, the plant "underearned" more than UAH 43 million income under the contracts concluded in 2011-2015, and accuse the management of the plant, including the general director, of abuse of office.
L. M. Shiman stated "I am absolutely sure and convinced that these accusations are baseless, which are directly refuted by the materials of the so-called criminal case itself, in which, even according to the conclusion of the forensic experts of the Security Service of Ukraine, it is said that it is not possible to establish the amount of "unearned profit", that is, the lost benefit from those contracts! In addition, this lost profit is blamed on the management of the plant in the fulfillment of all financial indicators and plans, as well as the profitability of production of more than 110%! According to the financial service of the plant, the total gross profit from the execution of the contracts, which are blamed, amounted to more than 97 million hryvnias, and the total gross profitability - 112%!
"In connection with this pressure on me, as the general director of the State Enterprise "Pavlograd Chemical Plant", I ask the President of Ukraine, the Secretary of the NSDC, the Prime Minister of Ukraine to pay attention to these attempts to disrupt the implementation of strategic decisions, adopted by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. As for the criminal case itself, I am completely sure of my innocence and am convinced that the lawyers will be able to prove the absurdity of the charges brought against the management of the plant, and the court will make a fair decision."
National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine [NABU] detectives and SAP prosecutors completed the investigation into suspicion of abuse of office by the general director of the state enterprise "Scientific and Production Association "Pavlograd Chemical Plant" (hereinafter - SE "NVO "PHZ"), the commercial director of this SE and their assistant - the director of private intermediary companies. As a result of their actions, losses of more than UAH 43.3 million were caused to SE "NVO "PCH" in the form of unearned profits. The actions of the suspects are classified under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On November 30, 2022, the case materials were opened to the defense for perusal.
The investigation established that the suspect, together with the commercial director of the State Enterprise "NVO" PHZ" and the head of two more private enterprises, organized a scheme for the exclusive sale of products produced by the state enterprise through artificially involved controlled intermediary companies. They sold products to customers and buyers at prices 30% higher than the purchase price at NPO PHZ. At the same time, the supply of products (explosives) was physically carried out directly from the manufacturer — SE "NVO "PCH" — to final consumers (mining and extractive industry enterprises) without involving the resources of intermediary (commercial) structures. If the end users directly applied to SE "NVO "PHZ" with proposals to conclude contracts for the supply of explosive materials directly with SE "NVO "PHZ",
In September 2021, the official reported suspicion . In January-February 2022, the participants of the scheme reported a change in the suspicion previously reported.
This is the second episode of corruption at the specified state -owned enterprise, exposed NABU and SAP. The first covered 2015, he is investigated: the case on the charges of the commercial director of the State Enterprise "NGO" PHC "in the task of 7 million UAH of losses of the state -owned enterprise in 2017 was sent to court.
However, detectives of the National Bureau did not stop there and continued in 2018-2020. In the 1990s, a thorough study of the activities of other periods of the existence of the scheme at SE "NVO "PCH" and established that as a result of its action, the Pavlograd Chemical Plant underpaid at least UAH 43 million due to the sale of products at reduced prices. In the course of the pre-trial investigation, the alleged involvement in the commission of the crime was established, in addition to the general director of the SE "NVO "PCH", as well as the commercial director of the state-owned enterprise and the director of the intermediary companies - the last two were informed of the suspicion in August 2021.
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