Vitaliy Bogovin
The euphoria of the 2019 elections has gradually faded, along with the "green team's" ratings. Ukrainians, enlightened and coming to their senses, are beginning to discover who they brought to power by buying into the Vasyl Holoborodko fairy tale. These odious leaders include not only elected officials but also ministers and governors appointed by the new government, including the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration, Vitaliy Bogovin. How did this "simple farmer" manage to secure this position, and who is really behind this mask? And why are many residents of the Zaporizhzhia hinterlands afraid to talk about the new governor on camera?
The press has written very little about Governor Bogovin, mostly recounting his income declarations for last year, which turned out to be quite modest for a man who controls two dozen companies and 37 hectares of land. They also wrote a little about him earlier, when he was a candidate for the Servant of the People party and ran for parliament as "a man who created his own agricultural enterprise." So, let's get to know this "prominent agrarian" better, and at the same time, uncover many secrets of the "Zaporizhzhia court"!
Vitaly Bogovin and President Zelensky
Vitaly Bogovin. A businessman from a collective farm.
Vitaly Viktorovich Bogovin was born on August 17, 1969, in the village of Kuibyshevo, located in the Polohovsky district of the Zaporizhzhia region. Throughout its history, this village has changed names several times: it was founded in 1782 as the village of Kamenka, renamed Tsarekonstantinovka in 1845, became Kuibyshevo in 1935, and in 2016, during the process of "decommunization" and "derussification," it was given a new, "Cossack" name, Bilmak. This strange name (bilmak is a popular nickname for a person with a walleye) was given in honor of a local burial mound (Bilmak-grave), in which a one-eyed Zaporizhzhian ataman is supposedly buried.
All renaming initiatives always came from outside, "from the center." The village residents themselves, being pragmatic, viewed these initiatives as if they were a stray dog licking its hind legs. Ultimately, the local community demanded that the village be restored to its original name, but their opinion failed to interest the "pro-Ukrainian activists." Thus, over seven thousand local residents became "Bilmakovites."
Vitaly Bogovin didn't participate in these debates back then, and after becoming governor of the region, he never mentioned his fellow countrymen's petitions. This is unsurprising, since he is characterized as an apolitical "kulak" willing to bend to any authority that provides him with benefits and a position of power. That's all you need to know about his party affiliation! The green banner of "Servant of the People," under which Bogovin ran for the Verkhovna Rada in 2019 and became governor in 2020, was his first foray into politics. He only joined them because his business partners had joined the "Servant of the People" party at the time. Thus, a previously virtually unknown provincial agrarian became a big boss, suddenly enjoying a meteoric rise.
But let's return to the beginning. In 1984, after completing his eight-year school, Vitaly Bogovin went to neighboring Primorsk and enrolled in the Nogai Agricultural College as a zootechnician. Then, from 1988 to 90, he served in the army, after which he returned home and became a tractor driver foreman on the "Ukraine" collective farm, while studying agronomy by correspondence at the Dnipropetrovsk Agricultural University. However, tractors, like agronomy, interested him far less than commerce. The resourceful Bogovin became the collective farm's "buy-sell-trade" man, whose services were indispensable in the first half of the 90s. Pushing grain, acquiring diesel fuel and fertilizer, without leaving himself without a "reward," became his main activity.
His graduation coincided with Kuchma's abolition of collective farms, giving birth to the agricultural enterprise "Ukraine," where Bogovin became deputy director for commercial affairs. Then, everything followed a classic scenario: management "swindled and cheated" the former collective farmers, taking over the agricultural enterprise and, in 2000, creating on its basis a company of the same name, "Ukraine" LLC (EDRPOU 03749037). It controls 7 hectares of land, now belongs to Sergei Shaidovsky, and in 2018 was re-registered in Sumy Oblast. Currently, the enterprise has no visible connection to Bogovin—perhaps he withdrew from it long ago with his stake. Apparently, a very substantial stake, since Bogovin subsequently added many other enterprises to his "portfolio." However, according to Skelet.Org sources , he did not acquire all of them through honest transactions.
He also has a younger brother, Yevhen Bogovin, who has always been his companion and most trusted assistant. Yevhen Bogovin never graduated from university, only graduating from the Nogai Agricultural College (he followed his brother there), but it was he who became CEO of the Landfort holding company. The younger Bogovin has a reputation as a "jack of all trades," including using brute force, without which it's difficult to become a successful farmer in modern Ukraine. Therefore, it's not surprising that several years ago, Yevhen Bogovin suddenly became a volunteer, providing some assistance to "the guys in the ATO" ("feeding," as some would say). Whether any of this assistance ever reached the front is unknown, but local veterans' organizations have declared Yevhen Bogovin a "true patriot" and a great friend. After all, it's former ATO participants who form the backbone of the private armies used in the agrarian war for crops and land!
Evgeny Bogovin
Vitaly Bogovin. The Governor's Companions
In 2000, Vitaly Bogovin became the director of the Batkivshchyna agrofirm (30791236), created in the same Polohovsky district on the basis of the disbanded Rodina collective farm. This short line in his official biography conceals yet another scandal in his turbulent life. As a rule, agrofirm directors don't just change, and new ones aren't hired by advertisement—and in this case, Bogovin's appointment was the result of a transfer of control over the agrofirm. According to Skelet.Org sources , Bogovin and his associates gained control of Batkivshchyna by driving it into debt through fuel and fertilizer schemes, which they sold in the district.
Bogovin's tenure at Batkivshchyna resulted in its division into two parts: in 2006, NPO Agrofirma Batkivshchyna LLC (34217120) was registered, with Yevhen Bogovin subsequently becoming its director. The primary beneficiary of both companies for the past 10 years has been Oleksandr Mistyuk (earlier ownership information is unavailable).
However, the most interesting part of his biography is missing. It doesn't say how and when Vitaly Bogovin, a provincial grain and fertilizer trader, became close with Vadim Kovernik, the young CEO of the Agrosintez corporation (30345439), who became his close friend and second-most important business partner (after his brother). Agrosintez, registered in Cherkasy, traded fertilizers from the Cherkasy-based Azot company and other manufacturers. Vitaly Bogovin was initially a regular customer of Agrosintez, but then, having befriended Kovernik, became a sort of "exclusive distributor" in the region.
Vadim Kovernik
In 2002, the Agrosintez corporation established a branch in the Zaporizhzhia region in the form of an LLC of the same name (EDRPOU 31880541), whose director and founder is currently Vadim Kovernik. He has two rather interesting partners in this company. The first is Vladimir Ilyich Slesarenko, who also owns the companies International Agrocenter (33894273) and Agrosintez-Plus (32814569). Another person with the same name is the director of the Ecological and Tourist Center in Parkovoye LLC, re-registered in annexed Crimea (OGRN 1149102134235). Incidentally, Vitaly Bogovin owns a 14-hectare plot of land near Yalta on which he planned to build a house.
The second companion, or rather, the second one, is Anna Nikolaevna Taran. A person with the same name was an assistant to MP Dmitry Dobkin (the younger brother of Mikhail Dobkin ) and the head of his charitable foundation (38157322), as well as a co-founder of the public organization "Forum for the Salvation of Dnipropetrovsk" (33907402). Perhaps they share the same last name, or perhaps not...
Vitaly Bogovin's biography also claims he only became a businessman in 2006, when he founded the private enterprise "Bizon-Tech" (34216986), which trades fertilizers, herbicides, and seeds. Readers are led to believe that before this, Bogovin was merely a hired top manager for agricultural enterprises, constantly in the fields. But why? It seems the new Zaporizhzhia governor has decided to rewrite his life story, removing details he didn't want to disclose. And if this official biography is to be believed, he only began working with Kovernik in 2008, when the latter acquired an equal stake in "Bizon-Tech." But that's a lie!
Land race
Just a year later, the close-knit partners decided to take up grain cultivation themselves, acquiring the agricultural firm NPP Sladkovodnoye (EDRPOU 35815811), whose main asset was 2,8 hectares of land. It became Bogovin and Kovernik's first official latifundia, which became the foundation of their agroholding, LANDFORT. However, until 2012, their main business was trading agricultural chemicals and seeds through the Bison-Tech group, which later grew into BKW Group (which consolidated their main assets).
In 2012, they were joined by the newly established agricultural firm "Alliance" (37957216), which controlled nearly 6 hectares of land. Details of this merger were also not disclosed, but it is known that two years later, for some reason, "Alliance" officially withdrew from "LANDFORT." Perhaps this is because its owner and director is Crimean Dmitry Khvedzevich—here we again see a Crimean connection to Bogovin's schemes. The actual relationship between "Alliance" and the Bogovin-Kovernik group remained hidden from the public.
In 2013, the partners acquired the Vozrozhdenie agricultural firm (30844848), located near Volnovakha (Donetsk Oblast). This added another 2,8 hectares of land. From that moment on, Bogovin and Kovernik began a land grab, expanding their estate by acquiring new agricultural firms. In 2014, they became the owners of Aloins-Agro LLC (32721464) and Pridonetske LLC (00853286), adding another 11,8 hectares of arable land to their land bank.
Interestingly, in 2019 (before the elections), both of these enterprises were transferred to the company "BKV Group", registered in Cyprus at the address Nicosia, Stavrou Street, Building 56, Office 104. The beneficiaries of the private enterprise "Landfort-Dnepr" (39672576), private enterprise "Landfort-Azov" (25223209), the agricultural firm "Vishnevataya" (40921623) and other enterprises, also part of the Bogovina-Kovernika agrogroup, are also registered at this address.
In 2015, they acquired the Vesna agricultural firm (39674699) and the Kolosistoe private enterprise (renamed Landfort-Dnepr). In 2017, Bogovin and Kovernik became the owners of the Vishnuvataya agricultural firm. In 2018, they acquired the Progress private enterprise (30085680) with 2,5 hectares of land and Agronik-2017 LLC with 900 hectares. But their main prize was the Rossiya private enterprise (renamed Landfort-Azov) with 8,8 hectares – this increased the total land bank of the latifundists to 37 hectares! Its founder, Anatoly Nikolenko (a member of parliament of the first convocation), who had led his brainchild for over twenty years, died shortly thereafter.
As you may have noticed, they made all their major acquisitions after the second Maidan, after the start of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), between 2014 and 2018, when an agrarian war for land erupted in Ukraine, in which raiders used private armies of "titushki" (illegal thugs) and "veterans" as well as tried-and-true schemes for acquiring businesses through debt-based schemes. The methods by which the Bogovin brothers and Vadym Kovernik built up their land bank can be gleaned from the scandalous story of the Khodatskyi Rod farm, which leaked to the press. Journalists then managed to contact the farm's owner, who owed Bogovin's company, Bison-Tech, over three million hryvnias. According to the farmer, this debt was artificially created, and he was forced to admit it by threats from Bogovin's men. These threats proved to be true: one night, the farmhouse was set on fire. The case went to court , which immediately sided with Vitaly Bogovin, who claimed that the farmer had made it all up to avoid repaying the debt.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Vitaly Bogovin: An Agrarian Raider at the Head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. PART 2
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