"And if today some person or group of people, unrelated to the maritime industry and unsure of what to do with the ports, decides to sell them, I don't think that's entirely right," Igor Tkachuk, director of the state-owned enterprise "Odesa Sea Trade Port," said on the television program "Newspaper Rain."
The official appointed to his position at the end of 2016 seemed to have spoken the right words. They would have been right, if not for a few "BUTs"...
Regarding the newly-minted "port worker"'s statement itself, based on what Tkachuk said, the question arises: what connection does Tkachuk himself have to the maritime industry? After all, he was appointed to lead a major STATE enterprise, and therefore, the official admits that his appointment itself was "not entirely correct." The material was published on the AnalitikaMedia website.
Upon joining the Odesa port, Igor Tkachuk took over a profitable enterprise. According to the port's 2016 operating results, the port ended the year with a profit. However, several months of work by a new team of "professionals" led to the company's first results in January 2017—minus 20 million hryvnias. The new team demonstrated truly effective work!
What's the point of the settlement agreement between Mr. Tkachuk (not signed by Tkachuk himself, of course) and Mr. Musatov? After signing it, despite the existing criminal cases, he was reinstated in his position at the division of the State Enterprise OMTP OSP "Sudoverf Ukraina" with compensation of 100 hryvnias. Does this constitute abuse of office?
In an interview with Channel 7, the head of the state-owned enterprise spoke of a 40 percent wage increase for port workers. However, he modestly omitted the wages set by a member of his team: from 260 to 40 hryvnias, which is clearly not the stated 40%. Considering that Tkachuk's "postman team" consists of approximately 100 people, the wage bill for "professional postmen" is more than immodest.
Moreover, it's no secret that the payroll fund is taken into account, among other things, when setting tariffs for the company's services. Clearly, the port's tariffs could increase, which would negatively impact competitiveness. And if tariffs don't increase, it's clear that with such a payroll fund, the company will quickly approach bankruptcy.
Regarding the port's improved operations and the scandals that have dogged its operations for months over the sale of its fleet, I'd like to note the strange behavior of its port workers. Coincidentally, it was precisely with Tkachuk's arrival, and consequently his team, that the private company Ecoflot entered the port with its tugboats.
By taking over the lion's share of the work, the private company simply stole the bread and butter from the company's "money" division—12 vessels, and therefore, the salaries of the port workers. By comparison, in January 2017, Ecoflot's tugboats earned approximately $500, while the port's tugboats earned $200.
Of course, one could argue that the port's tugboat fleet is outdated, and agents generally don't care who they work with—the main thing is that the tugboat can do its job. However, in this situation, the new team is clearly interested in having a private company operate on the company's premises, displacing the port's existing fleet.
I'm also curious as to when the tender was held that led the port to hire a private company to perform mooring operations. There's no answer to this question. It's clear the port is operating under direct contracts, bypassing the Prozorro system.
How it works: an agent submits a request for vessel berthing to the State Enterprise AMPU, which in turn is supposed to forward this request to the port fleet. However, this doesn't happen at the Odesa port – for obvious reasons, the request is sent to Ecoflot, and the company loses profits. Whether this is done accidentally or intentionally should be determined by the competent authorities, who will appreciate the level of "professionalism" of the new team.
Incidentally, in early February, the new team was joined by some returning members. Among them are the aforementioned Mr. Musatov, reinstated as chief engineer, whose work at the Shipyard Ukraine had raised many questions. Viktor Baskin, who returned to the directorship of the long-suffering Shipyard Ukraine from his position as deputy director for technical affairs at the Odessa Port. Oleksandr Zubik, acting head of the Odessa branch of the USPU, who, incidentally, held the position of deputy acting head of the State Enterprise OMSP. The speed of the latter's appointment could be a world record. Between Zubik's dismissal from his position at the State Enterprise OMPU and his appointment to the OB OMPU,...
It's safe to assume the next step the "postman team" will confidently take. According to insider information, the Ministry of Infrastructure has already prepared a package of documents for the privatization of the Odesa port fleet. However, it's equally safe to assume that by the time the sale documents are signed, the "postman team" will already be gutting another port. And most likely, it will be the port of Illichivsk.
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