Vitaly Zakharchenko
Three of the seven special permits for the exploration of deposits or the extraction of precious metal ores are still held by companies associated with former Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko.
DeutscheWelle journalist Katerina Kaplyuk wrote about this on her Facebook page.
As she notes, only seven special permits have been issued in Ukraine to explore deposits or extract precious metal ores.
"The three permits, which have been suspended but not yet cancelled, belong to companies linked to Zakharchenko," the journalist emphasizes.
Two permits for the Muzhievskoye and Beregovskoye deposits were previously received by the Carpathian Ore Company.
The third permit—for exploration of the Kvasovskoye ore field—was issued to the Western Geological Exploration Company. Its director and one of its ultimate owners is Valery Bredikhin, a partner of Vitaly Zakharchen, also known as the former minister's right-hand man.
The Kvasovskoye ore field is the least explored in the Beregovsky ore district, and no commercial mining is currently taking place there. An area of up to 2,5 square kilometers is known to be promising for exploration.
Western Geological Exploration Company LLC received a special permit for subsoil use in 2012, valid until March 16, 2017.
In March 2014, SBU officers conducted an unscheduled inspection of the company, during which they discovered violations of the terms of subsoil use, according to a response from the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine to a journalist's inquiry.
DOCUMENT
The document states that on October 16, 2014, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine filed a claim with the Transcarpathian District Administrative Court to annul the special permit for subsoil use of the Western Geological Exploration Company, but as of September 28, 2015, the Transcarpathian District Court has not issued a decision to annul the special permit for subsoil use.
At the moment, the special permit for subsoil use has been suspended, but is still held by the Western Geological Exploration Company.
The next court hearing, which will take place at the end of November, could put an end to this case, Kaplyuk reports.
According to the response to the inquiry, it also became known that Western Geological Exploration Company LLC submitted an application to the State Geological Service of Ukraine with attached documents regarding the renewal of a special permit for subsoil use.
As stated in the response, "if an application is received with the appropriate package of documents in full, the State Geological Service of Ukraine will review it in accordance with the requirements of current legislation."
According to the Unified State Register of Real Estate, Valery Bredikhin still owns the Western Geological Exploration Company.
Vitaly Zakharchenko and Bredykhin are co-owners of the Tribushany and CarboKarp brands, which produce marble chip products. Bredykhin was also a partner in the firms Linkrust and Mining Technologies, along with the wife of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Lyudmila Zakharchenko.
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!