Long-standing corruption schemes and pressure from law enforcement agencies may soon drag Ukraine into the "salt crisis" again, stopping the supply of table salt from abroad.
The armed aggression of the Russian Federation led not only to destroyed cities and the death of thousands of Ukrainians, but also seriously undermined the economy of our country, including its food industry. One of the consequences of aggression was the recent large-scale "salt crisis", a shortage of one of the main products in the kitchen of any Ukrainian. This happened as a result of the shutdown of the monopoly enterprise "Artemsil" and at the same time the destruction of traditional routes of import deliveries due to the blocking of sea ports. As a result, the situation led to the fact that, in the wake of panic, the price of a kilogram of salt in supermarkets soared to 90 hryvnias.
Currently, the situation has improved significantly - thanks to the fact that domestic enterprises managed to quickly adjust the import of salt from abroad. However, the salt collapse may happen again soon - due to the fault of law enforcement agencies, which are used to putting pressure on the successful business of independent investors.
In the afternoon of July 12, 2022, the inspection bodies blocked the work of a group of companies located in the village of Radisne, Berezovsky district, Odesa region. The companies own the well-known trademarks "Attual", "Krupiany dvir", "Trapeza", whose products (cereals, rice, legumes, etc.) are presented on the shelves of supermarkets of all national retail chains, from local to "Silpo" and "ATB ". more than 20 retail outlets in the country.
In addition, it is this group of companies that now occupies an important strategic position, because in conditions of acute shortage, it packages salt, which is sold in networks throughout the country, and provides products of the flour-milling and groats segment to at least 30-40% of the consumer market.
During the searches, in addition to seizing computer equipment and documentation, employees of the Investigative Department of the GUNP in the Odesa region stopped the production process of packing salt and unloading more than 30 vans that brought table salt from Turkey.
At the same time, as the founders of the group of companies explain, in the current conditions it is necessary to pay colossal sums of money so that Turkish partners are not afraid and bring salt to the territory of the warring state. Therefore, it is not difficult to predict their reaction after the security forces became interested in their trucks: if they continue to scare Turkish partners, then in order to avoid problems, they will no longer come to Ukraine with the supply of salt and other essential products.
Let's add that "Trapeza" LLC, which owns the above trademarks, is one of the most successful holdings that has developed its activities in the Odesa region in recent years. At the same time, the fact that the company started production in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, but after the occupation of the peninsula by Russia, the entrepreneurs showed loyalty to Ukraine and left all their business in the annexed Crimea, decided to restore it in mainland Ukraine and chose Odesa region for this.
The European-class enterprise was created in a new place from scratch, without connections and support from the state. The founders managed to convince foreign suppliers to supply in installments the best equipment for the production of grains and legumes and packaging of bulk goods. On the site of a sugar factory destroyed in the post-Soviet period in the village of Radisne was built completely legally, with the help of official contractors, a modern plant of 12 square meters for the production and packaging of cereals: it breathed new life into a depressed area.
Now it is the only company in Ukraine that uses European equipment for processing and packaging of its own products. The company provides jobs for more than a hundred local residents, provides humanitarian aid and assistance to Ukraine. Their work did not stop for an hour even in the conditions of martial law. Despite financial difficulties and military threats, entrepreneurs decided not to leave the territory of the country and continue their activities in order to provide their employees with jobs and the population with the necessary food.
Despite the fact that the group of companies is a large tax payer, the investigation stated suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Tax evasion). At the same time, according to the data available in the editorial office, only in 2021 three companies (LLC Krupyany dvir, LLC Attual and LLC Trapeza) jointly paid taxes to the state in the amount of more than 62 million hryvnias. And for the first half of the current military year of 2022, companies in the form of taxes and fees also replenished the country's state budget by 30 million hryvnias, which completely contradicts the investigation data.
But the fact that the Russian past of the founders of the companies became the formal cause of the pressure on the business from the side of the investigation cannot be ignored.
Indeed, the founders of the company are natives of the Chechen Republic, who were forced to leave their home after the destruction of their country by the Russian army in the late 1990s. Since then, entrepreneurs have worked exclusively for the economy of Ukraine, have a permanent residence permit, and their children are citizens of Ukraine.
To clarify the situation, we turned to the founder of the company "Krupyany dvor", which survived the raids - Alavdi Mamedovych Khalidov.
"We have been legally living in Ukraine for 23 years, each of the founders has a permanent residence permit. In Ukraine, we received secondary and higher education, made friends, our children were born and live here. And we are proud that they have the citizenship of Ukraine, which has become another home for us. We also want to state that we have repeatedly applied for citizenship, but to date we have not received it. At the same time, we fully support Ukraine and always provide volunteer and humanitarian assistance to the needy," the entrepreneur emphasized.
According to businessmen, the real purpose of pressure on enterprises is a banal demand for a bribe, but they have no intention of paying, as they are confident in their rightness and the laws of a legal European state. Entrepreneurs emphasize that their business, which plays an important strategic role in providing the population with salt and cereals, will now be under artificial pressure, hinting at a "quick solution to the issue" with the help of bribes.
In order to investigate the case openly and objectively, the businessmen appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the head of the Odesa Military Administration Maksym Marchenko, and also sent an appeal to the SBU.
As stated in the statement of the group of companies, it is nothing more, nothing less, but about treason in wartime conditions from officials of investigative and judicial bodies of Odesa region. After all, this is the only way to characterize the artificial criminal prosecution aimed at the complete cessation of the work of enterprises engaged in strategic supplies to the country during the liberation war of the Ukrainian people.
