"Friends of Putin" are muddying the waters of the "Ocean" again

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Putin’s friends and their trusted representatives in Ukraine continue their attempts to regain control over the Mykolaiv Shipbuilding Plant "Ocean," which they themselves drove to bankruptcy and plundered during their "responsible" stewardship.

On December 3, 2018, a historic event may occur in Mykolaiv. The property complex of PJSC "Mykolaiv Shipbuilding Plant ’Ocean’" is going up for auction. Dozens of hectares of territory, a quay wall, a floating dry dock, and a brand with a world-renowned name will be granted to the highest bidder. As one of the most renowned bloggers in Mykolaiv, Fedir Levchenko, writes, at least five interested parties have emerged.

However, in addition to the assets, the winning bidder will receive a hidden "bonus"—a "ticket to war." To a hybrid war with a group of Putin’s friends, whose representatives in Ukraine have "held" the Ocean plant for years—they first drove it into bankruptcy, then derailed bankruptcy proceedings, then plundered it under the pretense of "responsible" stewardship, and are now attempting to disrupt the final liquidation stage.

Why do Russians need the Mykolaiv "Ocean"? Or the first Russian wave

Before the 2008 crisis, Russia dreamed of regaining the former global glory of shipbuilders. In pursuit of this dream, billions of rubles and the lives of famous people were invested. Russians were buying up and, as the media reports suggest, even seizing shipbuilding assets around the world. European shipbuilders, who owned the Ukrainian plant in Mykolaiv, were successfully "attacked."

But then the crisis hit. Global capital markets and production fell. As a result, world maritime freight transport came to a halt. Billions of rubles spent on buying shares, stakes in companies, and people lost their chance to recoup in the form of orders for shipbuilding and repairs. At the state level in Russia, the issue was overseen by a close friend of Vladimir Putin—Igor Yusofov and his family. We won’t describe his profile; suffice it to say that Mr. Yusofov previously served on the Board of Directors of "Gazprom" and was the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

Part of the billions lost during the crisis was borrowed and allocated for, shall we say, "unofficial payments." Naturally, due to the failure to pay large sums, significant problems arose for some of those involved in those dark dealings. Specifically, Andrey Burlakov did not survive an armed attack. In September 2009, he was shot at in a Moscow restaurant "Khutork," and died from cardiac arrest. His wife Anna Etkina miraculously survived and urgently moved to Israel, from where she shared many interesting details about the Russians’ seizure of global shipbuilding.

Both Yusofov and Burlakov are directly related to the seizure and subsequent bankruptcy of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’." In a photo previously published in ORD, both figures are seen at the "Ocean" plant a few months before the attempt on Burlakov’s life.

In this photo, Burlakov already appears somber, realizing the complexity of the situation he found himself in. He was much more optimistic during his address to the plant’s workers a year earlier. Here is (below) a still from the historical video, which can be accessed at the link.

Burlakov promised the workers orders and urged them not to worry about the rumors that would circulate. He didn’t manage to fulfill his promise.

The second Russian wave. Driving to bankruptcy

After Burlakov, no one particularly promised anything to Mykolaiv shipbuilders. But not to profit from an asset that had already been seized would be a sin. The Ukrainian "managers" hired by the Russians devised a genius scheme:

1. Create a new company.

2. Lease all of "Ocean’s" assets to the new company without paying rent.

3. Accept orders (and money) through the new company.

4. Fulfill orders using "Ocean’s" facilities without paying for their rent.

5. Bankrupt "Ocean."

ORD writes that the scheme was personally devised by Leonid Shumylo, who in 2011 headed PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’," while serving as president of PJSC. Here is a quote from a letter allegedly sent by Shumylo to the Russian "protectors": "...it is necessary to create LLC ’Ocean-Sudoremont’... advance payments will go towards fulfilling orders rather than settling previously incurred debts."

LLC "Ocean-Sudoremont" was created. It was headed by Leonid Shumylo himself, after stepping down as president of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’." The ultimate beneficiary of the company LLC "Ocean-Sudoremont" turned out to be the Russian Igor Turkin, known for his involvement in the scandalous contest for acquiring a part of the assets of the "Zaporizhzhya Titanium-Magnesium Plant." The subsequent bankruptcy of the "Ocean" plant with such management and "investors" was merely a matter of technique.

Two years later, in 2013, Leonid Shumylo received another confirmation of the high level of trust the Russian comrades placed in him. He was issued a power of attorney to represent an offshore company "Zonel Operations Limited" in Ukraine, which is associated with the same Igor Yusofov and which in 2013 (after a series of dubious "flips" of shares) became the main shareholder of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’."

Third wave. Seize and dismantle

It was Leonid Shumylo, who devised and implemented the scheme with LLC "Ocean-Sudoremont," that initiated the third wave of lawlessness by the Russians and their friends.

The latter had no plans to revive the plant—they needed to maintain the status quo as long as possible, where Shumylo and people from Yusofov’s team continued to control the enterprise, without settling debts and without employing people.

However, Yusofov may have had another geopolitical goal. For example, preventing the revival of Ukrainian shipbuilding at PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" or blocking the realization of Mykolaiv’s transit potential—after all, PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" owns a quay wall where ships of large tonnage can freely dock. If such a port is in bandit hands, no one will use it for its intended purpose. Small-scale smuggling by the bandits themselves doesn’t count.

In such a setup, creditors, whose obligations at that time exceeded 1.8 billion UAH, had no chance of getting their debts repaid. The workers of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’," in particular, were in a difficult situation, with debts owed to shipbuilders amounting to 91 million UAH.

In 2015, the liquidation process of bankrupt PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" began. Former owners, who drove the enterprise to "ruin," under the law lost control over the plant, which they considered their ancestral cash cow. The liquidation was to culminate in the sale of the plant’s property complex in open bidding to a new owner who would pay the market price for the enterprise.

But Leonid Shumylo and his friends were not accustomed to paying where they could steal. As a result, when in 2016 the liquidation of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" reached its final stage, it was frozen for almost two years.

On September 9, 2016, the Pechersk District Court seized all the assets of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’," forbidding their use and transferring them to the "responsible" custody of... Leonid Shumylo himself. The very same who devised the scheme with LLC "Ocean-Sudoremont" for the convenient liquidation of PJSC "MSP  ’Ocean’." The request to seize the assets and transfer them to Leonid Shumylo came from... yet another representative of the Russian offshore "Zonel Operations Limited," Igor Ovsyannikov.

The "responsible" custody lasted until February 28, 2017. During this one and a half years, the "custodians" were frequently caught exporting factory equipment to scrap metal reception points. Meanwhile, the "Ocean’s" quay wall was used as a smuggling port.

Losses from the "custodians’" activities amounted to 40 million UAH! And this is just the officially recorded figure. The real damage to the "Ocean" plant caused by Shumylo and his company remains to be guessed.

In the "third wave," Leonid Shumylo and Igor Ovsyannikov did not act alone.

"Cover" for the custodians was provided by an active member of the organized crime group "Kapitoshky," Ihor Ihnatov.

During the times of "responsible custody," he was also an official assistant to one of the members of parliament. Ihnatov was repeatedly spotted at the sessions of the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv, where he managed to threaten bodily harm to the liquidator of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" Iryna Serbin, prompting a complaint to law enforcement authorities, and the liquidator had to request round-the-clock security.

Another key player in Yusofov’s team in Mykolaiv was Anatoliy Nemov. A faithful servant of Yusofov, who today hides behind the title "representative of the primary trade union organization." Nemov gained Russians’ trust long ago. At the same time, he lost the trust of the workforce, which today disregards Nemov and does not recognize him as a representative of the shipbuilders in the creditor committee or anywhere else.

Here he is with Shumylo at a meeting with the workers. This is January 2011, the enterprise is controlled by Russians, and Shumylo is driving it to bankruptcy.

And here they are, below, together at a press conference in Kyiv on October 4, 2016. They arrived to boast how they froze the liquidation of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’." At the time, no one could imagine that their "responsible custody" would result in the disappearance of material assets worth 40,000,000 UAH.

It was after this press conference that Shumylo and Nemyov were honored with the "Order of Putin" "For Capturing PJSC ’MSP ’Ocean’."

Recalling Yusofov’s people, one can’t miss mentioning another character—Valeriy Morozov. His role was episodic but nonetheless important. More about his skeletons in the closet can be read here.

The "third wave" ended with the end of "responsible" custody on February 28, 2018. When the prosecution, having fully figured out who the "custodians" actually were, put a stop to this nonsense. You might have thought—it was the end. But no. Yusofov’s people are unwilling to release their grip on the strategic enterprise.

The fourth wave. Will it be the last?

Today, Leonid Shumylo is a "downed pilot" or a "used stage" in Yusofov’s rocket. One of Putin’s "decorated" has earned several criminal cases and has gone underground. According to our information, initially, Igor Ihnatov did the same. It’s said that his pro-Russian fervor was briefly tempered by his detention and arrest as part of a criminal case involving the embezzlement and legalization of about 40 million UAH from the state enterprise "Ukrhimtransamiak" and the fact that a member of parliament refused his assistant services. However, according to the latest information, Ihnatov is back in action and on good terms with Yusofov’s people—filing court petitions either to halt the liquidation of "Ocean" or to disrupt the auctions, ending them with "Glory to Ukraine!"

In essence, besides Ihnatov, Yusofov’s arsenal still includes two rounds: Ovsyannikov (with whom the "third wave" began) and Nemov.

It is unknown why, but Anatoliy Nemov decided to take upon his frail, aging shoulders all the complexities of friendship with Putin’s friend and bear the burden for two and for everyone who has gone underground. Meanwhile, he gets so carried away that he forgets whose interests he is actually pursuing—those of the workforce or the Russian friends.

Shtirlitz, that is, Nemov, has never been as close to failure as in August 2018. On August 30, he sent a petition to the head of the creditors’ committee and the liquidator of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" demanding to stop the liquidation and transfer all the assets of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" to... the company "Zonel Operations Limited." Which, according to Nemyov, can settle wage debts and has a "real action plan to take PJSC ’MSP ’Ocean’ out of crisis."

What or who all these years prevented "Zonel Operations Limited" from implementing their "plan"? And where did the Russian offshore suddenly acquire funds? All this remains unmentioned by Nemyov. But it is not difficult to surmise.

A week (!) before Nemyov sent his petition to the creditors’ committee and the liquidator, Russian media reported a significant piece of news: the State Duma of the Russian Federation proposed buying PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’!!! Russians can’t directly purchase a strategic enterprise because of sanctions. But they could provide some funds to their offshore "Zonel Operations Limited" and pull off a deal with Nemov as a buffer, misleading Ukrainian law enforcement once again, as was the case in 2016—by all means. Genius.

When the liquidator refused to accept the conditions imposed by "Zonel" through Nemov, a "couple of buckets of mud" were poured on her through some media outlets. To the liquidator’s credit, none of the stench stuck to her.

By the way, it is worth noting, Nemov is not alone in his attacks on Serbin. He is actively assisted by Ovsyannikov, who recently filed yet another complaint with the Ministry of Justice, demanding the replacement of PJSC "MSP ’Ocean’" liquidator Iryna Serbin. Replace her with whom? It doesn’t matter. The main objective is to knock Serbin out of the game. Who, as the portal "Shipbuilding and ship repair" wrote, "turned out to be a bigger shipbuilder than many who should be concerned about the fate of one of the largest Ukrainian shipyards."