The Odesa Port Plant was involved in a corruption scheme amounting to 345 million hryvnias — Zheleznyak accuses Shurma’s entourage

The Odesa Port Plant was involved in a corruption scheme amounting to 345 million hryvnias — Zheleznyak accuses Shurma’s entourage

The Odesa Port Plant (OPP) resumed operations after a three-year hiatus — and within two weeks, it became embroiled in a large-scale corruption scheme. The losses to the state amount to at least 345 million UAH.

This was reported in a new video on the "Iron Deputy" YouTube channel by Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Old Scheme — New Faces

The return of OPP to operations was accompanied by the signing of suspicious contracts. Notably, the plant signed an agreement with an unknown firm "Ukrnaftogazburinnya" for gas supply worth over a billion UAH.

"Already from the second day, the company and the state enterprise started engaging in magic: the plant took more gas than was supplied. And from September 3, ’Ukrnaftogazburinnya’ completely ceased supplying, yet OPP continued calmly extracting gas from the system," Zheleznyak reported.

Despite OPP being officially notified about the cessation of supply, the enterprise continued using gas for two more weeks. When "Odesagaz" attempted to physically cut the supply, staff were not allowed access to the premises, allegedly due to "air raid alerts." It turned out that no alerts were declared at that time.

Suspicious Firms and a "Deceased Director"

The gas supplying firm was headed by Mykhailo Mazur, a person without a professional background in energy, connected to the state enterprise "Dobrobut" in the Lviv region. He signed all the documents.

"On September 30, he signed the last act of gas acceptance, and the next day... he died," noted Zheleznyak.

According to the investigation, the real beneficiary was businessman Andriy Hrysyo, the son of football official Yaroslav Hrysyo. He is associated with several gas supplying companies.

Who is Behind the Scheme?

According to the deputy, the main coordinator of this scheme could have been the deputy head of the President’s Office, Rostyslav Shurma. He had direct connections with the management of the gas transmission system operator and was involved in previous schemes related to the sale of Russian ammonia.

Interestingly, Shurma was dismissed from his position as deputy head of the President’s Office on September 3, when gas supplies ceased, which the author of the investigation believes is not a coincidence.

"Agrotorggroup" and Dubious Tenders

Another player is the company "Agrotorggroup." It was buying ammonia at underpriced rates: 23,500 UAH per ton instead of the market rate of 27-29 thousand UAH. As a result, the state lost tens of millions.

"OPP sold ammonia for 397 million UAH, although it used gas worth over 450 million. Even at full payment, it still results in a loss," explains Zheleznyak.

The company is linked to former deputy Serhiy Tryhubenko and Vitaliy Lohvinov, who was reputed to oversee multiple state enterprises.

"Frenchman" on the Horizon

In conclusion, Zheleznyak mentions another figure — the mysterious Oleksandr Muzhel, known in circles as "Alex Frenchman." He is regarded as a person who still influences OPP’s activities and represents the interests of businessman Tymur Mindich, close to OPP.

"All the pieces form a picture: an old corruption scheme, new faces, identical result — hundreds of millions in losses. And again, no one took responsibility," summarizes Zheleznyak.

What Next?

The investigative materials have already been handed over to NABU. The deputy insists that OPP has long turned into a center of systemic corruption and needs to be privatized instead of being "saved."

"This is a source of corruption. It must either be transparently privatized or closed. Otherwise, it’s an eternal hole in the budget," concludes Yaroslav Zheleznyak.