Tatyana Tkachik
A protégé of a notorious Russian oligarch is behind the scandal with the Ladyzhyn distillery, ANTIKOR reports.
The situation at the Ladyzhyn distillery "Extra," which is part of the state-owned enterprise Ukrmedprom (which oversees all state-owned pharmaceutical companies), is far from resolved due to pressure and blackmail from Ukrmedprom head Tatyana Tkachyk. The company's staff, who recently protested outside the Ministry of Health in Kyiv, are claiming an attempt to replace the director, under whose leadership "Extra" began to restore pre-crisis production levels, with a "professional gravedigger" who has held similar positions and bankrupted state-owned enterprises for subsequent sale. Furthermore, dark spots have been revealed in Tkachyk's biography, raising doubts about her integrity and, in general, the advisability of her continued tenure.
The great imitator
Tatyana Tkachik achieved "fame" in business circles back in the mid-2000s. At the time, she worked as a lawyer for the construction companies Kyivvysotstroy and Agrostroypererabotka LTD, which were associated with Russian oligarch Igor Salo. Work on four of these companies' properties was skillfully faked until the spring of 2007. As a result, approximately 800 investors were left homeless, the directors were accused of embezzlement, and the whole affair was dubbed "a second Elita Center." A lawyer for both companies, Tatyana Tkachik diligently tried to whitewash the reputations of her "bosses," holding press conferences and issuing statements. However, to no avail. Tellingly, when facts emerged linking the management of both companies to Salo (one of the "directors," Andriy Galushchenko, worked as a driver for the oligarch's son before his career rise), Tkachik found no evidence to support the claim and stopped communicating with the press. Another director, Mykola Marinekh, was arrested in Boryspil in the spring of 2009 after a year of wandering around Thailand—and he nearly died in a Ukrainian prison.
Nevertheless, the incident had a positive impact on Tatyana Tkachik's career. She entered the oligarch's inner circle in a new role—as a lawyer and advisor on dubious legal transactions. Salo is known in narrow business circles as a top-class corporate raider. His first attempt came in July 2011, when the raiders raided the Kyiv-based Indar plant, a leading global insulin producer. Tatyana Tkachik played an active role in the raid, alongside Svetlana Grabarchuk (then director of the Kharkiv-based consulting group Prudence). The raiders' strategy was both old and effective: a new manager was appointed to the plant, tasked with driving the company into bankruptcy and then selling the shares to offshore companies. That time, the "gravedigger" was Yevgeny Kononenko, who already had the state-owned enterprises "Health of the People" and "Pilot Plant of the State Center for Medicinal Products" under his belt (Tkachik's involvement in the incidents involving these enterprises, however, has not yet been proven).
Naturally, the seizure of a strategic state-owned enterprise could not escape the attention of senior management, and after the Cabinet of Ministers intervened, the plant was returned to state ownership in 2012.
Old schemes about the main thing
On the eve of the Revolution of Dignity, the story took a new turn. Salo managed to secure the support of the Party of Regions (according to some reports, he was assisted by the entourage of former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka ( read more about him in the article " Viktor Pshonka: The Rise and Fall of a Prosecutor's Caesar ") and appointed Tatyana Tkachyk to the state-owned enterprise Ukrmedprom as head of the legal department, effective November 1, 2013. The protests and Maidan that soon erupted had no impact on the Russian oligarch's plans; in fact, they accelerated them: Tkachyk was appointed head of Ukrmedprom on July 21, 2014, under the cover of other personnel decisions by the new government, as the acting prime minister clearly had no time to notice the rise of a single "talented" lawyer at the moment of the loss of Crimea and the beginning of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). The truth came to light later, and about a year ago, rumors began circulating behind the scenes at the Ministry of Health about Tkachik's impending dismissal—allegedly, then-Minister Alexander Kvitashvili had learned of her past. However, the Minister of Health submitted his resignation, never having managed to bring his career as a "greasy lawyer" to a logical conclusion.
What enterprises does Igor Salo have access to through Tatyana Tkachik? These include the aforementioned Poltavamedsteklo (25% of whose shares are still held by Ukrmedprom), the Dnipromed company, its subsidiary Biostimulyator, the Odessa Plant of Bacterial and Viral Preparations, and Lvivdialik. A telling point: most of these enterprises are bankrupt. Tkachik's scheme in action can be seen at the most lucrative assets—state-owned distilleries. Among the first to fall was the provincial Mezhyrechensk Vitamin Plant, a half-brother of the Extra distillery. The situation there was remarkably reminiscent of the recent events in Ladyzhyn—two years ago, the new director, appointed by Tatyana Tkachik, entered the thriving enterprise with a team of "special forces" from security firms, armed with tasers and special equipment. Now Mezhirechka is in decline and, apparently, is preparing for “privatization” by pre-designated offshore companies.
A similar fate likely awaits Ladyzhyn's Extra. The new director, Oleksandr Kovalenko, appointed at the end of September, has a negative management record (under his leadership, the Trile distillery in the Kyiv region was essentially scrapped). Will he be the driving force behind Extra's growth? That's a big question. Especially considering that under the current director, Konstantin Kernitsky, the company has been showing positive results for a year now: approximately 1,1 billion rubles in monthly profit and 96 employees (when he took over, the production facilities were idle, and the workforce was significantly lower). "All year long, we've been receiving wages reliably—every month, we're paying off our debts, and our company is truly getting back on its feet thanks to our leadership. And this show with the 'little green men' (security company employees—Author) who tried to force their way into the plant is outrageous," said Natalia Kornienko, head of Extra's human resources department.
All the elements of Tkachik's previous schemes are evident: a forceful takeover of the enterprise, the removal of the legitimate director under a trumped-up pretext, and the appointment of a "gravedigger," followed by the collapse and subsequent sale of the enterprise after a few months of his clearly "economic" activities. Meanwhile, according to the workforce, the emergency situation at the enterprise was created on the orders of Tatyana Tkachik herself. Without the participation of Ukrmedprom, it is impossible to conclude contracts with clients for the supply of ethyl alcohol, and the state-owned enterprise's management has not signed the contracts since summer (as a result, the products are not being shipped anywhere). According to the inspection report of the Ladyzhyn enterprise, its storage facilities and tanks are filled with alcohol. The only problem is the lack of shipment: almost 5 liters of alcohol were even found ready for shipment in a standard ZIL truck.
What is Tatyana Tkachik's interest in the affairs of her business patron, Igor Salo? The corporate raider's principle is well-known: "from money to more money." Information about mythical kickbacks Tkachik receives is circulating on forums on websites affiliated with prosecutors (such as ORD and Antikor). "She's already built more than one house for herself and her family," claims a user with the nickname "Sonechka." Whether this is true or not is beyond our control, but the fact is that in a high-profile corporate raid, the sums involved are simply incredible. And it's only a matter of time before NABU, SAP, and other anti-corruption agencies become interested in this "raider in a skirt."
Oleg Boyko
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