Pakhtakor means "cotton grower" in Uzbek. As is well known, cotton is not grown in Ukraine today. However, history websites mention that in 1940, "Mykolaiv Oblast accounted for 67 percent of the republic's raw cotton production," which, along with hemp, was one of the main industrial crops grown in the region.
By the 1970s, the Central Asian republics were successfully growing cotton in the Soviet Union, and so the production of "white gold," as cotton was known, was curtailed in the south of the Ukrainian SSR. However, the notorious KGB continued its operations. Recruiting intelligent students to represent their intelligence network, young agents were given pseudonyms that could reflect their appearance, personality, place of birth, or potential destination.
Recruitment also took place at the M.V. Lomonosov Odessa Technological Institute of the Food Industry. And one fine day, October 11, 1970, V.I. Kozhoma, an officer of the 5th Section (later Directorate) of the 2nd Division of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR, reported the recruitment of a new agent codenamed "Pakhtakor." According to open sources, the 5th Directorate of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR initially focused on economic matters. In March 1960, the 4th (secret-political) and 5th Directorates were abolished, and their functions were transferred to the 2nd Directorate (counterintelligence). And already in 1967, three years before the recruitment described, the 5th Directorate for Combating Ideological Sabotage was formed.
Does this mean that "Pakhtakor" was recruited as an agent preventing ideological subversion in the food industry? It's unknown. But examining the subsequent fate of Oleksiy Afanasyevich Vadatursky, the subject of this article, it's clear he excelled both economically, becoming one of the richest men in Ukraine, and in preventing ideological subversion. Ukraine's largest grain trader, director of the joint Ukrainian-Hungarian-English LLC JV "Nibulon" (one of Ukraine's largest agricultural exporters), vividly demonstrated this latter skill throughout 2014, when he acted as virtually the chief ideologist of the Maidan in the Mykolaiv region, actively supporting Kolomoisky's initiatives to capture and eliminate all pro-Russian separatists, funding the maintenance of checkpoints, and foisting his private security firms on Mykolaiv to serve as Maidan guards. Alexey Afanasyevich is attempting to neutralize all acts of sabotage except one, a complex act of sabotage directed against Ukraine, from which he is actively diverting attention with his activities—from himself. He is either ignoring or failing to notice that he has long posed a significant threat to the state.
The website of the magazine "Korrespondent.Net" in the "Dossier" section contains a biography of Alexey Vadatursky, compiled in April 2011. It states the following: "Vadatursky Alexey Afanasyevich is a Ukrainian businessman, general director of the agricultural enterprise Nibulon, Hero of Ukraine (with the award of the Order of the State, 11/15/2007).
Born September 8, 1947, in the village of Bendzari, Baltsky District, Odessa Oblast. He comes from a Hasidic family. He graduated from the Lomonosov Odessa Technological Institute in 1971. He began his career at the Trikratsky Grain Processing Plant as chief power engineer, then worked as chief engineer.
The internet is full of compromising materials revealing the dark side of Vadatursky and his "Nibulon" organization—corporate raids, skillful manipulation of government connections for personal gain, disregard for and violation of laws and the rights of ordinary Ukrainian citizens, and the successful promotion of his son, Andriy, to parliament through the "Poroshenko Bloc." The compilation of these transgressions on the website "Vlasti.net" from April 19, 2011, is truly remarkable!
Oleksiy Vadatursky, who currently cloaks himself in support of the Maidan, demonstrates with all his actions that he is prepared to outlast the next regime and squeeze the maximum benefit out of the situation. Fortunately, connections dating back to 1970 continue to help Pakhtakor maintain complete control of the Mykolaiv region and emerge from any crisis to its advantage! After all, without the constant support of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR, and later the SBU, the chief power engineer of the Trikratsky grain processing plant could not have become the unscrupulous and powerful master of the Mykolaiv region.
Incidentally, to strengthen his political influence, Oleksiy Afanasyevich has alternately financed the People's Movement (on whose list he is running for deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council) since 2005, and the Communists since 2007, on whose list he intended to run for parliament as the 20th candidate (see "Vlasti.Net" from April 12, 2011). And since 2014, Vadatursky has actively supported the Maidan, Kolomoisky, Poroshenko, and himself.
The economic crisis hasn't affected Vadatursky's business empire either. According to data from the Dragon Capital investment company and journalists from Novoye Vremya, by the end of 2014, Alexey Afanasyevich's asset growth had slowed by 64% compared to 2013, but he still ranks 18th in the rankings with $312 million.
So, it turns out that the entire lustration, the law for which was passed on October 16th and as part of which the SBU, through Markian Lubkivskyi, threatened to reveal all lists of KGB agents in October 2104, may pass Vadatursky by. He has no reason to hold parliamentary positions in either the regional council or the Verkhovna Rada, given his wealth, connections at the top, his "heroism for Ukraine," his well-developed skills in political disguise, and his proven ability to brutally suppress competitors in territories dependent on the director of Nibulon. But does Ukraine need such "heroic cotton growers"?
Used materials:
https://www.nikograd.com/Books.aspx?command=page&id=285
https://shieldandsword.mozohin.ru/kgb5491/terr_org/respublik/ukraina.htm
https://vlasti.net/news/124206
https://forbes.ua/persons/72-vadaturskij-aleksej-afanasevich
https://www.zahvat.net/6/3045/
https://www.vn.mk.ua/stories.php?id=1973
https://files.korrespondent.net/persons/vadatursky
https://files.korrespondent.net/organizations/nibulon
https://novosti-n.org/news/read/79136.html
https://thekievtimes.ua/society/368532-kolomoyskiy-vadaturskiy-kto-sleduyushiy.html
https://news.pn/ru/public/119144
https://zn.ua/UKRAINE/sbu-namerena-raskryt-vseh-agentov-kgb-156395_.html
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