On September 2, during Odesa City Day celebrations, approximately 20 civilians attempted to seize the Lermontov Clinical Sanatorium, owned by Ukrprofzdravnytsia. They illegally entered the premises and attempted to aggressively and rudely interfere with the treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery of patients.
According to eyewitnesses, the lawlessness continued for more than three hours. It was stopped thanks to the defense of the people's sanatorium not only by the staff and patients, but also by media representatives who arrived at the scene, as well as representatives of the Odessa Territorial Self-Defense Force.
"The Ministry of Justice sent me a letter yesterday," said Dmitry Antipov, director of the sanatorium. "It informed me that another enterprise with the same name, 'Lermontovsky Sanatorium,' had been established. And that my staff and I must vacate the premises within three days, as the new enterprise will be managed by a new director. I consider this a hostile takeover," the sanatorium director said.
As a reminder, today's incident is not the first attempt at a corporate takeover of the trade union sanatorium, which annually treats and rehabilitates over 5,000 patients, including ATO veterans and workers representing various industries and regions of Ukraine. Since 2012 alone, the sanatorium has opened two departments and expanded its staff to 250 specialists. Thirty percent of the medical equipment has also been upgraded, and an ultrasound machine and X-ray equipment have been purchased.
As media reports have already reported, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice set its sights on the sanatorium earlier this year. Officials found no better option than to try to seize the sanatorium from the trade unions, lobbying their ambitions with the highest echelons of power. Specifically, according to a Cabinet of Ministers order dated January 21, 2015, the Lermontovsky property was seized from Ukrprofzdravnytsia and transferred to the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice has already established its own company, the Lermontovsky Sanatorium.
In response to inquiries from the management of the Lermontovsky Trade Union Sanatorium regarding the documents on the basis of the inventory, members of the inventory committee presented only the Ministry of Justice Order on the inventory of the Lermontovsky Sanatorium enterprise. It is worth noting that the Ministry of Justice Order refers to the inventory of property at their own Lermontovsky Sanatorium, not at its subsidiary, the Lermontovsky Clinical Sanatorium of JSC Ukrprofzdravnitsa. The enterprise, created by the Ministry of Justice, was never located on the territory of the trade union sanatorium. Furthermore, by a decision of the Odessa Regional Commercial Court on August 21, 2015, the Ministry of Justice's claim against Ukrprofzdravnitsa and the Lermontovsky Clinical Sanatorium for recognition of their enterprise's right to trade union property was dismissed. Thus, the court confirmed the right to the property of this medical and health institution specifically for the trade union sanatorium.
According to Dmitry Antipov, the Lermontovsky Clinical Sanatorium has already paid off all its debts and has begun to generate a profit. "And now, just when the sanatorium is operating at almost full capacity, the Ministry of Justice, offering its assistance, simply wants to seize it," he fumes.
Behind all these actions by the Ministry of Justice, there's a clear intention to redistribute property, transferring the sanatorium to the state balance sheet and subsequently privatizing it. "Thus, hiding behind fine-sounding phrases about some incomprehensible expediency, they simply, as they say, brazenly want to take away from miners, metalworkers, teachers, doctors, and ATO soldiers their right to treatment and rehabilitation (mostly on preferential terms), and hand it over to 'some guy,'" say sanatorium employees.
As Dmitry Antipov, director of Lermontovsky, emphasized, both the staff and patients of the sanatorium are prepared to firmly defend their legal rights.
Taras Gorban, Antikor
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