Rinat Akhmetov wields the most powerful weapon—information—he controls the Ukrainian president. There's currently no secrecy on government and presidential communications lines in the country, and there's a real threat of a complete internet shutdown. We're practically defenseless against the enemy in terms of information security.
Few would doubt that information security and the protection of personal and confidential data are the foundation of any nation's security. Otherwise, the country is exposed to external attack and becomes completely vulnerable in every way. This was explained to Nikmedia by Yuriy Babenko, Lead Engineer at UKRTELECOM's Mykolaiv branch of the Primary Network Directorate, and Vladimir Stepanenko, First Category Engineer.
"At present, high treason is taking place in Ukraine. Ukrtelecom PJSC's primary network is being shut down; all channels and all special communications facilities operate on this network. If the primary network is shut down tomorrow, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will be unable to contact authorities in the regions, in provincial and district capitals. Currently, this entire network is in the hands of one man—Rinat Akhmetov. He is currently deciding who gets traffic and who gets it withheld. We believe this situation is in no way consistent with the country's information security, and what's happening to the primary network can be called high treason and outright sabotage.
Because after the destruction of the primary networks, we could be left without communications altogether. Without secret government communications, without communications from the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, we'll leave our airspace exposed. We'll completely lose control of the country's information space. TV channels also operate on our backbones, and all communications operate on this network. The entire internet connection we have in our homes also operates on our networks.
If the primary network is shut down, we could all be left without internet. What led us to this conclusion? On October 24, the Kyiv City Court raised the issue of Ukrtelecom's failure to build a special-purpose network—that is, the secret network that was supposed to be unified across Ukraine, for which 220 million hryvnias were allocated from the state budget. This money was used to build sites and supply equipment near our facilities that receive special communications channels.
They are then connected to our equipment, transmitted through our primary network channels, and exited at the other end via a secure communications channel. As you can imagine, there's virtually no secrecy involved, as there's no separate secure communications channel. We later hoped that there would be some orders and instructions for transferring people legally and officially, but no one has offered us anything legal or official. People are being forced to accept low salaries and demotions.
This is being done throughout Ukraine to destroy the network through the hands of its own employees. Management will then have grounds to legally disband the primary network. Subordination will remain at the regional level, resulting in a complete loss of confidentiality and the vulnerability of sensitive information. To date, 1600 employees out of 3,5 have already submitted resignations.
This is mainly happening in districts and regional centers, not counting Kyiv. First, they pressure people in the regions to resign or face dismissal; Kyiv and the ATO zone are left alone. Currently, there's a direct threat of all information being wiretapped. Furthermore, I'd like to point out that there's a risk that the "+" command will be replaced with a "-" command! Say, Kyiv sends a "plus" command, but at some unmanned registration point (UNRP) this command can be changed to a "minus" command.
This means that any action by the Ukrainian government could be altered by a command to implement it, potentially disrupting airports and the banking system, with potentially tragic consequences. However, there is optimism. We believe everything being done is illegal, and we, first and foremost as citizens, have a vested interest in stopping this arbitrary action, lest we turn into a "banana republic." We have already appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Presidential Administration, and law enforcement agencies, but so far we have been told that an investigation into this matter is underway. National security is under threat; in any country, this is the highest level of alarm.
Moreover, Ukrtelecom is a strategic enterprise owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, a satellite of Ukraine's enemy, Yanukovych. Until recently, the strategic enterprise was headed by Russian Alexander Barinov. On December 16, he was removed from his post, and Leonid Netudykhata took over as head of the company. However, Barinov hasn't gone far, instead hovering nearby in a supporting role.
For reference: During the Soviet era, there was a communications production and technical department. It was responsible for the post office, telegraph office, long-distance telephone exchange, city telephone exchanges, radio communications, and district communications centers. This highly sensitive, strategic enterprise, among other things, also provided public notification services. It had its own charter, and its employees held security clearances appropriate to their positions. After the collapse of the USSR, by the early 2000s, the postal and telecommunications departments were separated.
Ukrtelecom then acquired everything related to telecommunications, including long-distance telephone service, the city telephone network, telegraph, and more. In 2010, with the start of Yanukovych's presidency, the sale and transfer of Ukrtelecom to Rinat Akhmetov began. Today, 93% of Ukrtelecom's shares belong to him. 7% of the shares theoretically remained with Ukrtelecom employees. Those who refused to sell their shares, despite pressure and outright blackmail, were required to keep them in the bank, holding certificates of approval.
Not long ago, at the direction of Ukrtelecom's management, shares were transferred to the international bank PJSC CB Eurobank, and their owners were required to undergo personalization, something many simply did not know about or learned about too late.
Without identification, they effectively ceased to be shareholders. Thus, only a few of the 7% remain actual shareholders. Kyiv management has scheduled a general meeting of Ukrtelecom shareholders for December 16, but only those who have been identified by an international bank can register as shareholders. The meeting is expected to review the Charter and the Regulations on the Supervisory Board, and change its composition. Clearly, this implies significant changes in Ukrtelecom's operations, which are already underway locally, with irreversible consequences. On October 31, Kyiv issued Order No. 583, and this process is underway everywhere, including in Mykolaiv. As a result, engineering positions are being eliminated at branches, specialists are being transferred to electricians, and management staff are being reassigned to engineers, or they are being laid off. In Mykolaiv, the complete liquidation of the Supervisory Board is underway.
Employees on maternity leave are being illegally summoned to the HR department, where they are told that since their positions will be cut anyway, they will have no way to return from maternity leave. Therefore, it is best to resign now by mutual agreement or voluntarily. Employees with up to five years of service are paid three salaries instead of the six stipulated by Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 1948-r of October 12, 2010. Those with over 20 years of service are paid six salaries instead of the prescribed 36. According to HR managers, they are acting on behalf of the former Chairman of the Board of PJSC, Russian citizen Alexander Barinov, who is in turn a political representative of Rinat Akhmetov.
At the same time, despite the well-known order, active recruitment is underway, not of communications specialists or professionals, but of needed people—primarily from the banking sector. Our publication, Nikmedia, will continue to follow the fate of Ukrtelecom, its employees, our overall information security, and the response of government at all levels and law enforcement agencies to the facts presented in this publication.
Notably, on October 4, 2013, Ukrtelecom PJSC became part of the SCM Group. Following the completion of the acquisition of 100% of the shares of UA TELECOMINVEST LIMITED (Cyprus), which holds the corporate rights of ESU LLC (which held 92,79% of Ukrtelecom PJSC shares), SCM Group became the company's majority shareholder. The supervisory board is composed almost entirely of former SCM executives, including two Russian citizens: Alexander Barinov and Ekaterina Lapshina.
Reference: Public Joint Stock Company Ukrtelecom is one of the largest companies in Ukraine, providing a full range of telecommunications services across all regions of the country. The company has a particularly strong position in the internet and fixed-line telephony markets. Ukrtelecom is the market leader in high-speed fixed-line internet access and holds a dominant position in the fixed-line telephony market.
PJSC Ukrtelecom has created the most powerful national data transmission backbone network in Ukraine, built on modern DWDM technology, which allows it to provide consumers with modern telecommunications services in almost all populated areas of Ukraine.
The company offers its clients virtually all types of modern telecommunications services, including:
international, long-distance and local telephone communications;
data transmission services and construction of virtual private networks;
Internet services, including the “Internet from Ukrtelecom” service – high-speed Internet access for subscribers of the fixed-line telephone network;
Permanent IP connection via a dedicated line; hardware and virtual hosting;
provision of dedicated non-switched communication channels for use;
ISDN;
video conferencing;
wired broadcasting;
telegraph communication;
mobile communications using UMTS/WCDMA technology (operator "TriMob").
Our publication, Nikmedia, will continue to be interested in the fate of Ukrtelecom, its employees, our overall information security, and the response of government at all levels and law enforcement agencies to the facts presented in this publication.
Alexey Vorontsov, NikMedia
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