Why is the owner of "Pozhmashyna" Oleh Averyanov being targeted and what will happen next?

As reported by a number of publications, the State Bureau of Investigations has opened a criminal case against the "Pozhmashyna" factory for allegedly "making a profit" from supplying special equipment to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The factory’s director, Oleh Averyanov, confirmed the information and added that he considers such an accusation absurd.

Indeed, the wording is absurd, although, in the opinion of the State Bureau of Investigations, it does not go beyond the law. It should be noted that there are ongoing court disputes regarding whether deliveries to the Ministry of Defence and the State Emergency Service during wartime are "a loss for the state," which the State Bureau of Investigations references in its decision to open a criminal case. However, the essence of the "attack" on "Pozhmashyna," and more specifically on its owner Oleh Averyanov, lies deeper. Moreover, this is far from Averyanov’s first problem. For example, the State Emergency Service, following a decision by the State Audit Service, is demanding that his factory return 3.4 million hryvnias in profit.

But, as mentioned earlier, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Apparently, another redistribution should be expected in the fire equipment market in Ukraine, which is represented by only one manufacturer - "Spetsbudmash LLC," owned by Oleh Averyanov and located in the town of Ladan, Prylutskyi district, Chernihiv region. The fact itself is outrageous, but we should recall how the state fire equipment factory became private and ended up in Averyanov’s hands. And simultaneously remind of a whole series of scandals involving Oleh Lyashko, who is referred to as an unofficial co-owner of the factory. He helped Averyanov both seize control of the factory and obtain state contracts for its products.

The loudest scandal (which, of course, everyone has already forgotten) was the "budget night" of 2015 when the "Radical Party" faction refused to vote for the budget until a clause for 400 million hryvnias for the purchase of fire trucks, which only Averyanov’s factory manufactures, was included. There were other scandals as well. For example, in the same year, 2015, Oleh Averyanov was forced to resign from his position as Deputy Head of the State Emergency Service after his agency purchased fire trucks worth 92 million hryvnias from his factory.

There were also other corruption scandals associated not only with "Pozhmashyna" but also with Averyanov’s other businesses. Much has been written about this, there were criminal cases, but this is our country, isn’t it? In addition, Averyanov had high-ranking patrons. These include not only Oleh Lyashko but also his long-time partner Valeriy Dubil, a long-term member of parliament from the "Bloc of Yuliya Tymoshenko," with whom Averyanov began in the distant nineties in Pryluky in a group still remembered there as "Europe," and both Dubil and Averyanov are called "Europeans."

There could be many reasons for the "attack" on Averyanov, but most likely, this time it is related precisely to the factory and Oleh Lyashko. To understand why Averyanov’s position with the "Pozhmashyna" factory is rather vulnerable, it is necessary to recall the brief history of how the state enterprise ended up in private hands. It didn’t happen in the nineties when savvy people were picking up everything that wasn’t securely held, but in 2008, when the state enterprise "Pryluky Fire and Special Equipment Plant Pozhspetsmash" suddenly went bankrupt. Several companies linked to Averyanov were quickly formed on its base, and the plant’s assets were divided among them. Among these companies was "Pozhspetsmash Plant LLC," which received 263 million hryvnias from the State Emergency Service in 2009 for supplying equipment, even though the company had no production capacity and existed only on paper. After receiving money from the State Emergency Service, it transferred them to another firm - "Pozhspetsmash Manufacturing Enterprise LLC," whose founder was Averyanov’s mother-in-law. This firm, through a chain of intermediaries, purchased Russian machines, which cost the client, the State Emergency Service, twice the factory price to the manufacturer.

The purchase was a one-time deal - after fulfilling the order, both companies were liquidated. On the remnants of the state plant, "Industrial Company Pozhmashyna LLC" was created with a strange set of owners who changed over the years, and as a result, Averyanov became the company’s beneficiary. Oleh Borshch, who figures in this chain, is Averyanov’s godfather, on whom other assets are also recorded.

After ardent radical Lyashko began to lobby for the company’s interests, "Pozhmashyna" started to prosper - it began receiving orders from the State Emergency Service, and in 2015, as mentioned earlier, Lyashko’s faction boycotted the adoption of the state budget until 400 million (in current prices, that’s almost a billion) were included for Averyanov’s "Pozhmashyna." All of this is described in the investigation "Rescuer" Lyashko: Where Radical Millions Come from and What They Are Spent On by "Nashi Hroshi," we recommend reading it.

With the decline of Lyashko’s career, problems began for his protege as well. However, some help could be provided by the long-time partner and colleague, MP Valeriy Dubil. But "Batkivshchyna" itself has problems due to the fact that its votes in parliament are not really needed - after the early elections of 2019, the ruling party had a majority and did not particularly require the help of external forces for voting. Moreover, the missing "bayonets" are obediently supplied by former members of OPFL, so as not to be squeezed. Thus, Averyanov practically found himself face-to-face with the new government, in which there were those interested in redistributing ill-gotten property, as well as recollecting the owner’s past sins. And they exist, because, on his way to becoming an "owner of factories, newspapers, and ships," Averyanov stepped on many sore toes.

Here it will be necessary to return to his biography, although, unfortunately, only superficially, since it is very extensive and deserves a separate detailed description. Here’s what Wikipedia says on this matter:

As we can see, the nineties are completely absent here. We will return to them later, but for now, let’s pay attention to the entry: "In 2006, held the position of Deputy Director for Technical Issues at "Rynok-1 LLC." This is the same "Rynok-1 LLC," where the legendary Kyiv authority Valeriy Pryshchyk was the founder until his death. At the same Troieshchyna that everyone in Ukraine has heard of.

Yes, Oleh Averyanov worked there long after the death of Pryshchyk, but the very fact that he appeared there suggests a lot. Especially along with the extract from the biography of his business partner Valeriy Dubil:

This, in turn, sends us back to the turbulent nineties, about which there are so many gaps in the biographies of both partners. It’s not surprising, because both Averyanov and his partners (besides Dubil, there are a few regional figures among them, one of whom headed the Chernihiv regional organization of the "Party of Regions," now he bought himself Smeshko’s "Strength and Honor" faction), started in Pryluky with collecting scrap metal, by the mid-nineties transforming themselves into what is still remembered as the "Europe" organized crime group.

Their success in the scrap metal business was facilitated by two eventually famous "Europeans" - Anatoliy Miroshnychenko (the same former regionalist, now "Sich member") and Serhiy Varnavskyi, who were officers at the Pryluky strategic aviation airfield, which was collapsing at the time. They organized a scheme to steal colored metals from the airfield, eventually digging up even power cables. And Oleh Averyanov served at the same time at the same airfield in the position of head of the fuel and lubricants warehouse. And Valeriy Dubil’s father served there as a warrant officer. What these four individuals converged on isn’t hard to guess.

It’s difficult to comprehend how these ordinary, generally speaking, petty thieves of colored metal and kerosene grew not just into an organized crime group that crushed all competitors not only in the provincial Pryluky but into a vast empire whose holdings extend far beyond the Chernihiv region, whose representatives had or have political power at the level of the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers. Almost like children’s cartoons - "from this quiet swamp, I will step straight into the Pacific Ocean." Judge for yourselves: Oleh Averyanov became the owner of a monopoly, producing equipment for the State Emergency Service and was deputy minister; Valeriy Dubil is the deputy head of the parliamentary party; Anatoliy Miroshnychenko is a long-term head of the regional branch of the "Party of Regions" and a regional council deputy. The most inconspicuous of them - Serhiy Varnavskyi - was for a long time a Kyiv City Council deputy from "Batkivshchyna." And all of them have huge businesses spread throughout Ukraine. The "Europe" organized crime group has turned into the "Europe" business empire.

Opinions differ on the secret of the "Europeans’" success. But two directions are clearly traced in their biographies. The first is the stunning ability to corrupt law enforcement (which, according to rumors, Dubil was engaged in). Characteristically, they understood this just in time, somewhere by the end of the nineties when the traditional bald morons in leather jackets went to cemeteries or prisons in droves. The second moment, which is noted by the few surviving witnesses of those glorious times - someone from the "Europeans" managed to establish connections with the Solntsevskaya organized crime group in Russia. It’s said to have been Dubil. But not the point. The point is that Pryluky was hit by a wave of murders, arson, explosions, and assassination attempts. As a result of the criminal war, the "Europeans" completely defeated all competitors, taking the leading position in the city, and then in the region. Gradually their influence spread to neighboring areas and Kyiv. How things went with the Troieshchyna market and the late Pryshchyk is not exactly known. But the fact that it fell into the sphere of influence of the Pryluky "Europeans" speaks volumes.

To their credit, it should be noted that, apart from the timely understood trends with law enforcement, who were initially bought wholesale and packaged by bandits, and then respected businessmen, the "Europeans" understood that without political "cover" they would fade into nothingness. And instead of buying corrupt politicians (although this did not go without), they went into politics themselves. Quite successfully, which gave another impetus to their development, first as respected businessmen, then as members of the political establishment.

This lasted many years. However, in 2019, the situation changed radically - a power came to the helm that did not need external players. And this power began redistributing (including) the country’s property. Whether this is fair or not is not relevant in this case. We are interested in the fact itself. And it is that against the "European" empire, which includes prominent representatives such as Oleh Averyanov, a systematic "attack" began. One of its episodes is the attack on the "Pozhmashyna." The legal grounds, as everyone understands, interest no one. At stake is a monopoly producing equipment for government structures. Which governmental structures have bought, are buying, and will be buying. The question now is whether Averyanov can defend his piece of bread. And what will happen next since many want to apply "dekulakization" to representatives of "Europe," and there is plenty to take away from them.