The disgraced Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, who has adapted to the sanctions and life of the “Vienna Exile”, is still the most influential character in the domestic titanium industry, said Economic News source, referring to the Argument publication.
According to the media, Firtash’s structures today directly control about half of the titanium raw material production and effectively “inspect” the rest of the part beyond its control. The fugitive oligarch plans to restore lost control over the OGCC and appoint its directors to the state-owned Irshansky and Volnogorsky GOKs.
The authors believe that the current pressure of power structures on the state company OGCC and the largest private titanium company Velta is linked to this. At the end of July, the Velta company announced that law enforcement was printing with signs of the raid. In August, the Deposit Guarantee Fund put the company’s real estate complex up for auction due to non-payment of the loan in one of the previously liquidated banks. In November, Velta received an official refusal from Goseksportkontrol to obtain an export license for the sale of products under Czech, American and Chinese contracts.
OGCC, the largest government agency in the industry, faced similar challenges. Therefore, on September 21, OGCC announced that it was pressuring the company to discredit the company in the eyes of European and American partners, and also denied accusations of supplying titanium concentrate to the Russian Federation.
In October, the company was deprived of payment of UAH 105 million. Export VAT previously paid regularly on a monthly basis. On November 19, the OGCC reported that Goseksportkontrol had in effect suspended all “western” exports of the state company due to delays in licensing.
If Firtash’s structures manage to stop the business and buy Velta’s property for its debts to the liquidated Prominvest and seize control over the Demurinsky GOK located in ARMA, this would mean single, complete and strategic control over the entire titanium industry of Ukraine. will come. Journalists say that in this case, the issue of the Ukrainian supply of titanium for the production of Russian missiles and aircraft will go from impossible aircraft to the category of quite acceptable.
Source: Focus
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