The expert is convinced that this is a response to the actions of Renat Akhmetov
The assets of Ukrainian businessmen are being nationalized in Kherson. Acting Governor of the region Vladimir Saldo explained that their enterprises are considered abandoned and transferred to the management of the State Property Fund. Saldo did not name all the oligarchs whose assets will be nationalized, but there are at least five interesting objects in the region. MK dealt with what could be confiscated from the Ukrainian side.
Last summer, Saldo noted that the authorities did not intend to nationalize the enterprises of the owners who had left the region: “We will not nationalize anything yet, because we do not know which of the owners may still return and show interest in their own enterprises” . However, there were not many who returned. According to the acting head of the Kherson region, most of the large owners hostile to Russia are located in the territory controlled by Ukraine.
The economy of the Kherson region is mainly built on agro-industrial enterprises. There are almost 2 million hectares of agricultural land in the region, where grains, vegetables and fruits are grown. There is little big business in the region, but it exists, Ukrainian media write. Thus, the shipyard Smart Maritime Group, which belongs to the oligarch Vadim Novinsky, remained in the Russian part of the region.
Sergey Khripkov and Andrey Gordienko, the owners of the Karavan shopping and entertainment center, may lose their assets. Businessmen developed a network of solar power plants in Ukraine. Some of them remained on the left bank of the Kherson region. As a result, Khripkov lost six solar power plants with 91.7 MW, and Gordienko lost two stations with 45.7 MW.
The ATB trading network is the second largest private company in Ukraine in terms of revenue. It belongs to Gennady Butkevich, Viktor Karachun and Yevgeny Yermakov. One of the distribution centers, designed to serve the distribution network, is located in the part of the Kherson region not controlled by Ukraine. At the same time, in 2018 in Ukraine, Butkevich was suspected of collaborating with Russia. Because the ATB network continued to operate in Crimea under the guise of “PUD”, despite the sanctions.
Another “applicant” whose property could be taken away is the ex-mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev. The agricultural enterprise «Prodexim» is registered on it. Earlier it was reported that Kolykhaev was trying to keep his property and was looking for a Russian entrepreneur who could look after his Prodexim Trading House LLC. However, such manipulation is unlikely to help. “His assets have been described and are being prepared for nationalization,” Saldo said.
As MK explained, such actions by the Russian authorities are a response to a lawsuit filed by Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov with an arbitration court against Russia demanding compensation for assets lost in the Donbass. “Nevertheless, the Kherson region is very promising,” the expert emphasizes. “There are large agricultural holdings there, and given the rise in food prices, this will be a useful acquisition.”