The growing incidence of corporate raiding in the agro-industrial complex is adding further layers to the picture of lawlessness and the absence of state authority at the local level. Law enforcement agencies are disengaging from their work, and legitimate agricultural producers are being sidelined by outright corporate raiders. The situation surrounding the Dobrobut agricultural enterprise in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is illustrative.
"Dobrobut" cultivates approximately 2000 hectares of land allocated to it by the Sofiyivka District State Administration for permanent use. For several years, the fields have been planted with crops, and harvests have been harvested. Despite the challenging situation in the agricultural sector, "Dobrobut" is a responsible taxpayer.
In the fall of 2014, Yuriy Bereza, the notorious commander of the Dnipro-1 special forces regiment and a member of the VIII Verkhovna Rada, personally visited the fields being cultivated by Dobrobut and, in the laconic style typical of a true military man, warned the tractor drivers: continue working, or we'll shoot you. Unsurprisingly, under Bereza's pressure and intimidation, they were forced to give up their positions. By the spring of 2015, Yuriy Bereza's "camouflage men" had, without any legal basis, illegally seeded other people's fields and harvested the crops just as unauthorizedly.
The situation was entirely in keeping with the spirit of revolutionary times. But the Dobrobut members didn't want to feel like they were "temporary" on their own lands. They turned to law enforcement. A police report was filed alleging that individuals, who, according to Dobrobut, were controlled by Yuriy Bereza, had seized the company's fields, located in the Ordo-Vasilevsky village council near the village of Maryevka, and were interfering with the Dobrobut group's legal agricultural activities. According to Dobrobut's estimates, the damage to the company from the Berezovsky group's surprise raid and unauthorized seizure amounted to approximately 600 hryvnias.
In their appeal to law enforcement, the Dobrobut members asked them to do nothing more or less than fulfill their legal obligations. Specifically, to investigate and establish the facts of the unauthorized seizure of land by Bereza's people and to establish the losses incurred by Dobrobut as a result of the simple theft of their harvest.
The statement was like a voice crying in the wilderness. Instead of conducting a comprehensive investigation, the police merely conducted a few formal interrogations—of the director of the Dobrobut agricultural group, Maksym Ranchukov, the machine operators who were intimidated, and several individuals who worked in Dobrobut's fields without his consent.
Observing the complete passivity of law enforcement, Dobrobut officers attempted to assist them in the investigation. To establish the theft of the harvest, they suggested that the police conduct searches of the Bereza-controlled warehouses. They also suggested visiting the Saksagansky Agro-Tsek, where, according to Dobrobut, the Bereza gang hides agricultural equipment. Dobrobut advised them to determine the origin of this equipment, which was most likely stolen from the eastern regions. They proposed locating the stolen harvest and conducting a number of necessary investigative actions as stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code.
Law enforcement officials responded to all these proposals like the hero of Grandfather Krylov's famous fable, "The Cat and the Cook." As the fabulist wrote, "Vaska listens and eats." The response of law enforcement agencies in the Sofiyevsky district to Dobrobut's appeal was more than passive. Registered criminal cases have been dormant since January 2015. Although, according to inspectors, something is being done. The prosecutor's office is reviewing the cases, issuing instructions, and "the process is underway." However, the prosecutor's office lacks proper oversight. The pre-trial investigation of this criminal case is not being initiated to conduct the necessary investigative (search) actions to obtain evidence, bring the perpetrators to justice, and compensate the injured party. Procedural guidance is not being exercised.
However, in 2015, despite the impossibility of carrying out economic activities and incurring financial losses, Dobrobut transferred 270 thousand UAH in taxes to the budget of the Ordo-Vasilevsky village council.
Despairing of finding understanding among district law enforcement officers, employees of the Dobrobut enterprise filed a complaint with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov.
While Dobrobut hasn't given up hope of a response from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Berezovsky group is actively "cultivating" the local population. People controlled by Yuri Bereza skillfully incite aggression among residents of the village of Maryevka and the entire Ordo-Vasilievsky Village Council. Using their influence in local government and in government bodies, they are peddling wishful thinking, regaling villagers with "fables" about how land will somehow be allocated to them. Meanwhile, Sofievsky District Council deputy Sergei Vyborny is openly blackmailing and inciting residents of Maryevka against the legitimate landowners, threatening to shut off water and electricity and spreading all sorts of false information. The District Council is ignoring the inappropriate behavior of its deputy, Sergei Vyborny. The indifference and lack of understanding of the Ordo-Vasilievsky Village Council members could lead to losses in the local budget.
The situation surrounding the illegal seizure of Dobrobut's land is unlikely to be anything special in the history of domestic corporate raiding. The only difference is that, while the raiders previously used government officials as cover, they are now using their own paramilitary forces. And if this continues, and the state fails to exercise its authority, the European values of protecting property and the law will become a mirage for Ukraine. In the meantime, Dobrobut is still awaiting an effective response from law enforcement. But the company's employees' hopes for such a response are diminishing with each passing day of silence from those in power.
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