Chernihiv's current mayoral candidate, Vladislav Atroshenko, tried to gain control of the Chernihiv region's peat industry ten years ago, as governor. The head of the parliament's anti-corruption committee publicly stated this. According to him, in 2005, Atroshenko demanded that the Ministry of Energy transfer the assets of the state-owned enterprise "Chernihivturf" to the city's municipal ownership, so that he could distribute them among his own structures.
At that point, the Chernihiv community managed to preserve the peat industry. Atroshenko was slapped and dismissed from his post as head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration for corruption. Today, Atroshenko launched another corporate raid against the Smolinsky Peat Briquette Plant, a key enterprise of the state-owned Chernihivtorf concern. Luhansk mobsters and the Kalashnikovs have already installed a new director from Luhansk, Yaremko, who has taken personal control of the enterprise's financial flows. Atroshenko is lobbying through the Presidential Administration to include the plant in the privatization plan, despite the fact that the plant was essentially privatized in the shadows in his interests.
Atroshenko needs official privatization to legally justify his hostile takeover. It's important to understand that the Smolyn Peat Briquette Plant is one of the Chernihiv Oblast's most valuable assets. It controls 500 hectares of peatlands. Their reserves are sufficient for more than 20 years. This translates into millions in profits, with virtually no capital investment. Furthermore, Atroshenko would like to utilize the hundreds of millions of hryvnias allocated annually by the Ministry of Fuel and Energy for peatland development.
The oligarch himself hasn't been involved in corporate raids. A Luhansk firm, which took over the plant several months ago, is working on his behalf. However, he hasn't let the plant out of his sight for 10 years. During that time, he attempted to privatize Chernihivtorf five times. More than 10 directors have come and gone. One of them died unexpectedly, another had his car burned, and a third had a Molotov cocktail thrown into his yard. But thanks to its staff, the plant has remained state-owned.
Current director Yaremko, in collusion with regional governor Kulich, believed to be Atroshenko's protégé, appears to be preparing the enterprises of the state-owned Chernihivturf concern for privatization. As for why Atroshenko, who has already made history as a peat briquettes donor to Yanukovych, is doing all this, the answer is simple. Peat briquettes are a promising fuel. They displace expensive gas and scarce coal. A monopoly on the market will allow Atroshenko to dictate prices, setting them for Chernihiv residents at three times the market rate.
One effective way to speed up privatization processes is the deliberate setting of peat bogs on fire. All Kyiv residents remember the acrid smoke that poisoned the city in the summer. Behind this smoke, thousands of hectares of peat bogs became the private property of a Chernihiv oligarch. It later turned out that his companies were the only ones allowed to operate there after the fires. In other words, they set fire to state-owned peat bogs and then put out their own.
A "flaming privatization" method is likely being prepared for the Smolinsky plant as well. Chernihiv residents should stock up on respirators in case a Chernihiv oligarch sets fire to the peat bogs around the city.
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