Ukraine has few assets that miraculously escaped the wildcat privatization of the late 1990s and early 2000s and are still of interest to serious investors. OPP (Odesa Port Plant) is undoubtedly one of them. However, a habit has developed and persists in Ukraine of privatizing enterprises not with honest funds, but through fraudulent tenders and other schemes.
The Odessa Port Plant is one of the most powerful chemical industries not only in Ukraine but also in the world. There have been two attempts to privatize it: in 2009 under Tymoshenko and in 2014 under Yatsenyuk. Both times, privatization was suspended. This year, Yatsenyuk added it to the list of enterprises to be privatized. It could be privatized as early as next year, 2016. And then it all began…
Dmitry Firtash
Firtash's scheme
Dmytro Firtash is the longest-standing contender for the Odesa Port Plant; he's been pursuing it for several years, since 2012. He could essentially be called a "specialist" oligarch. And the Odesa Port Plant would be the crown jewel of his petrochemical "crown," which effectively includes major enterprises like Sumykhimprom, Stirol, and major Estonian and Hungarian chemical companies.
The scheme by which Dmytro Vasilievich decided to take over the enterprise can be described as simple, yet effective. His companies supplied natural gas to the Odesa Port Plant, so successfully that the port plant now owes 5,9 billion hryvnias to RGC Trading, a company closely associated with Ostchem. Firtash's companies used this same scheme to effectively take Sumykhimprom from the state. That is, the enterprise is nominally owned by the State Property Fund, but in fact, it is controlled by Firtash's people through the enterprise's Creditors' Council. Apparently, this scheme had already begun to work for the Odesa Port Plant, with court cases ruling in favor of the creditors (read: Firtash). But then, unexpectedly, the state, represented by Oschadbank, intervened, granting the Odesa Port Plant a 5 billion hryvnia credit line. Furthermore, the Cabinet of Ministers removed Ostchem from its gas supply and replaced it with Naftogaz. Thus, the loan to Firtash and the loan to the state were equalized, meaning Dmitry Vasilyevich would no longer be able to hold a controlling stake in the Odesa Port Plant Creditors' Committee and would be unable to increase its debt. And the Cabinet of Ministers' plan was put into effect.
Nikolai Martynenko
Martynenko-Pashinsky scheme
It all started with Yatsenyuk's statement, in which he announced fraudulent schemes to steal the Odesa Port Plant by the Yanukovych-Firtash-Levochkin group. The latter returned the favor, claiming that the Yatsenyuk-Martynenko-Pashinsky group was planning to steal the plant. Then they began bashing each other through their media outlets, and another interesting scheme emerged.
It turned out that the aforementioned representatives of the People's Front had pushed their man, a certain Sergei Perelom, onto the Board of Directors, and that gas to the Odesa Port Plant was now being supplied by a company close to Nikolai Martynenko, Transgazproekt. Furthermore, the produced goods were being exported through another company close to them, Newscope Estates Limited, registered in the UK, and
Sergey Pashinsky
The money flows through Diamantbank, a bank close to Martynenko. In short, the scheme is as follows: a dedicated chairman of the board, control over product sales, control over financial flows, and control over energy supplies. In fact, with this arrangement, the enterprise doesn't need to be privatized; it's already effectively controlled by three people: Mykola Martynenko oversees the financial and economic aspects, Serhiy Pashinsky oversees the legal aspects, and Arseniy Yatsenyuk provides state protection. And all would have been well for this triumvirate. And they would have somehow gotten rid of Firtash, especially since the oligarch is currently going through hard times. But almost simultaneously, people close to President Petro Poroshenko appeared at the plant.
scheme Adamovsky-Granovsky
This scheme hasn't yet been implemented, and it's difficult to judge its intended purpose. Moreover, it's being actively opposed by those who currently control the company. This is evidenced by constant media leaks. But certain influential people are definitely trying to pull it off, and these people are close to the current president.
Alexander Granovsky and Andrey Adamovsky
At the very beginning, when the so-called "Martynyuk-Pashinsky group" appointed the aforementioned Sergei Perelom to the Board of Directors, the appointment was challenged in court by Sergei Khlan, a deputy from the presidential faction. And not long ago, information appeared in the press about a certain Hong Kong company, ExpoTradeGlobal Limited. Somehow, it managed to displace the aforementioned Newscope Estates Limited and secure a contract for the supply of all (!) OPP products. The Hong Kong shell company, with the help of PR and administrative resources, was removed from the contracts, perhaps temporarily. But in connection with this, the names of those behind it have surfaced. The contractor was a businessman. Andrey Adamovsky, a man involved in the Sky Mall scandal. His "roof" in government was provided by Oleksandr Granovsky, a Kyiv City State Administration deputy from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (not to be confused with businessman Oleksandr Granovsky, a partner of Borys Kaufman). It was he who "pressured" the plant's director, Valeriy Gorbatko, who signed the contract. It's not yet clear whether this scheme is simply a way to extract money from the plant or a far-reaching plan to "privatize" it for the benefit of people close to Poroshenko. However, we'll see soon; neither Adamovsky nor his associates in the company's management have disappeared.
Igor Kolomoisky
Kolomoisky's scheme
Igor Valerievich almost bought OPZ once already in 2009.
It's not entirely clear who exactly stopped him—then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko or the Constitutional Court; most likely, both had their say. But he now had the opportunity to carry out his "scheme."
Upon hearing that the Odessa Port Plant was being put up for privatization again, Igor Kolomoisky publicly declared that he expected to have priority rights to purchase it. State Property Fund head Igor Bilous immediately declared that there would be no priority, not even for the respected oligarch. Kolomoisky, however, made no objection, which is quite unlike him. In fact, his silence is entirely appropriate. His company, Nortima, has already filed a lawsuit demanding that the 2009 OPP privatization tender be declared valid. It's not a given that Privat needs OPP. But it is a given that Kolomoisky could ruin the lives of whoever wins the tender, or support whoever loses, or... well, with Igor Valerievich's talent for manipulation, the prospects are quite broad.
This war isn't over yet. Both the "presidential" and the "Cabinet of Ministers" are at the plant. Firtash remembers how much he's owed, and Kolomoisky is also hanging around somewhere nearby. And although the privatization of the Odesa Port Plant has been postponed again, it can't be postponed forever. This means we'll soon see some very interesting battles. And they've already spilled into the public eye. So, let's stock up on popcorn.
Denis Ivanov, for SKELET-info
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