The strategic Kharkov enterprise found itself at the center of the confrontation.
Despite working for the citizens and following the law. They are publicly accused of not doing or agreeing to dialogue. The means of introducing hybrid warfare and the spread of IPSO, as it turns out, are a good method, not only when it comes to military operations.
“Hands off the Zhikhor forest!” — under such slogans, Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexander Bakumov records a video for his Instagram.
At the same time, there are no fallen trees or crowds of local residents behind it. A small support group, partially deceived, will appear later. A new series of confrontations around this green area would hardly have been possible if not for the activity of Alexander Bakumov. Which, as it turned out, has direct customers who are not interested in the environment.
What is Zhikhor Forest?
Zhikhorsky forest is the community-accepted name for an artificial tract of plantings in Kharkov, in the Osnovyansky district. In fact, it consists of three large tracts - the forest itself is closer to Zhikhar, to Babaev and around Komsomolskoye Lake. This part of the massif is more often called Osnovyansky, but Bakumov calls it Zhikharsky. Not just like that, but more on that later.
The entire territory is more than 430 hectares, as calculated using online documents. The territory of the Osnovyansky massif alone is 131 hectares. These hectares do not include the territory of Komsomolskoye Lake, which is also artificial. It appeared precisely through the extraction of sand here a hundred years ago - a dredger was blown up. After the sand was exhausted, the area was landscaped, trees were planted, and recreation areas were created. Nearby enterprises have invested in this, namely the Kharkov Building Materials Plant, which has been making bricks from local sand for almost 100 years.
That is, there would be no plant, there would be no lake, and at least part of the artificial forest, over which the conflict has now arisen.
Of course, over the course of a hundred years, the forest was inhabited by birds and ants, part of the territory of the artificial Zhikhor massif was declared part of the Emerald Network of Europe, people got used to relaxing on the sandy beaches of the lake, and in their heads the connection between the plant and the recreation area disappeared.
That is, there would be no plant, there would be no lake, and at least part of the artificial forest, over which the conflict has now arisen.
But is there really a plan to cut down the entire forest to extract sand? - No.
Does the city really still need this construction plant? - Yes.
Who is planning to mine sand here now and why?
The issue of cutting down some trees arose due to the expansion of the territory for sand mining.
The main thing right away is that we are not talking about the destruction of the entire Zhikharsky forest (more than 430 hectares), or its part of the Osnovyansky forest (130 hectares). We are talking about cutting down 11.2 hectares. That is, it is less than 10% of the Osnovyansky forest, and less than 5% of the total.
Deforestation is planned in the area that was originally planned for sand mining. After all, we are talking about artificial plantings on a sand deposit. All official permits for this have been received, in particular the environmental impact assessment of the Ministry of Energy for the protection of the environment of Ukraine, the easement of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
It is not beginners or “paratroopers” who plan to extract sand, but the same hundred-year-old Kharkov Construction Materials Plant, represented by Quarry Osnova LLC, which is part of the group of companies.
The Kharkov building materials plant is the main enterprise in the east of Ukraine, which produces building materials, namely, high-precision wall blocks made of aerated concrete, facing and ordinary sand-lime bricks, floor slabs, foundation blocks, lime, concrete, dry building mixtures. This is a manufacturer of a full range of construction materials for the construction of foundations and basements, the construction of walls and floor equipment, and carrying out interior and exterior work. All these products are necessary for the creation of fortifications (blocks in and around Kharkov were installed free of charge by plant workers under fire) and for the restoration of destroyed buildings. If the plant does not produce materials, and this is impossible without sand, the restoration and protection of the city will be much more difficult and expensive - transporting bricks from other regions and countries is much more expensive and slower. Considering the level of destruction in Kharkov, restoration even after the Victory can be forgotten for years. That is why the plant has the status of a strategic enterprise.
The Kharkov building materials plant is a large taxpayer to the state and local budgets. Over the past 3.5 years, 124 million hryvnia have been paid to budgets of all levels, which in particular goes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and support of the civilian population.
Plant taxes are critical for Kharkov’s income, because now many enterprises are closed or relocated.
In addition, the plant provides official employment to 1,000 workers, employs and retrains women.
A new ZCB quarry is needed because the capabilities of the previous one have been exhausted. Sand from other quarries in the Kharkov region is not of suitable quality. In addition, buying it from other owners and transporting it to the plant at a distance of more than 100 kilometers will make the product much more expensive, which will again affect the time frame for the restoration of Kharkov.
After the development of the new site (the easement is signed for 10 years), it will again be landscaped as a recreation area and new trees will be planted. According to the conditions, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” will plant 5 (!) times more trees instead of those plantings that will suffer. And not all of them are healthy yet. All this is guaranteed at the enterprise and is ready to provide documents to the public. It seems that everything is open and clear, and pickets are not needed, you can at least sit down at the negotiating table, if you do not immediately disagree with the decision to develop a new territory.
But Bakumov, with a small support group, continues to hold actions and work for the public and the media, demanding a complete ban on the development of a new site, and thus on the rational operation of the strategic enterprise.
Is it really for the sake of saving a small part of the array? - No.
What does Deputy Bakumov have to do with the forest?
Alexander Bakumov is a majoritarian deputy from the Servant of the People party in the 173rd constituency, which includes the Osnovyansky district. But this is only a nominal involvement in the topic. The main reason is that the people’s deputy “owes” his patrons for a happy political present. and if someone else had been in his place, he would most likely have acted the same way.
In 2010, Bakumov graduated from the National Law University named after Yaroslav the Wise (specialty in Jurisprudence) and remained as an assistant at the department to further defend his dissertation. But this is the first step not into science, but into politics. Alexander Bakumov not only receives additional diplomas in history and finance, but also enters into a dynastic marriage with the daughter of local regional governor Vladimir Skorobogach.
The wedding was noisy, local “elites” congratulated the newlyweds, the stars sang, in particular Ani Lorak - at that time she was most in demand for corporate events, the fee was at least $70,000. Not bad for an ordinary employee of a university department, the son of a law enforcement officer. One can certainly say that Skorobogach paid for everything, but later Bakumov himself said that he and his wife had not only a family, but also a business.
In 2021, Bakumov and Karina Skorobogach will dissolve their marriage, but business ties will remain.
But the first problems would arise back in 2014. Business, career, politics - six months after the wedding, Alexander Bakumov could have lost everything, because the bet on the OPZH did not seem to work, Yanukovych fled, the regionals hid.
Bakumov begins to play partiot. In 2015, he went to serve in the ATO, with the rank of captain of the Border Troops. At this time, many young politicians join the ATO. Education and position made it possible not to risk much, and the status of a participant in the anti-terrorist operation improved the political position of the future people's deputy.
In fact, before Zelensky’s victory, Bakumov actively supported Poroshenko. But the bet didn’t work again. And he again changes the political mare.
With the help of a person from the OPZZH, Bakumov becomes a candidate from a new force - the President's Servant of the People party. The phenomenon of Zelensky is that he received a powerful victory without political force behind him. The team was recruited later, and he announced a social lift for new reformers. And the elevator was used by well-known corrupt officials and OPZZHNiki. Servants of the People, especially in districts around the country, did not know the situation and relied on locals to find candidates. Bakumov took advantage of this, and managed to “drop in” to the Verkhovna Rada thanks to connections with the regionals.
According to information from journalists of the “Schemes: Corruption in Details” program, Pshonka Jr.’s former assistant, former border guard, and now businessman Vadim Slyusarev influenced the formation of part of the “Servant of the People” list in majoritarian districts in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada. After all, as Schemes established, he has common business ties with a number of majoritarians elected from the presidential political force in the Kharkov region. He is also friends with another representative of the Servant of the People - the official head of the party headquarters in the region and number 28 on the list, Pavel Sushko.
Sushko and Slyusarev met through a border detachment. Bakumov, as we remember, are also some of the border guards.
The connection between Alexander Bakumov (173rd district) and Slyusarev was discovered with the help of an authorized person of the party in his district during these elections. This is Igor Ponomarenko, he is the director of Onyx-2006 LLC, which manages leased real estate. But the co-owner of this company is already familiar Vadim Slyusarev (96%).
Perhaps the ex-regionals decided to atone for their sins and work for society? - No
Did they use power for their own enrichment, raiding and corruption schemes? - yes
ENRICHMENT OF BAKUMOV
During the elections, Bakumov easily won in the 173rd district with the help of the presidential brand. Moreover, the electorate had a choice including the regionals - the Kernes party was represented by Anatoly Denisenko (AVANTAGE), and the OPZZh party by Pavel Onishchenko. In fact, Yanukovych’s supporters organized a kind of “cockroach race” in the district, as young Bakumov won.
Immediately after the election of the new people's deputy, corruption scandals befell. The press found out that the recruit bought an apartment in Kyiv. By this time, Bakumov, who at that moment was working at a university, already had an estate (according to the time of acquisition of the property - 1996, apparently a gift from a Daesh father to his 7-year-old son), valuable watches, cars.
Interestingly, in order to legalize his purchase, Bakumov declares income from the alienation of movable property and securities. In particular, from Zubko Yuri Grigorievich and Pokotilova Yulia, Evgenievna, who is an employee of the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a subordinate of brother Bakumov. That is, we can talk about a corrupt scheme for withdrawing money to Bakumov’s own account.
Throughout his time as a deputy, Bakumov constantly carries out financial transactions and receives additional income. He declares income from the alienation of movable property for 12.2 million hryvnia in 2021 from Tatyana Mukoida. This is a public carrier in Kropyvnytskyi. That is, the money is made from local government services and/or kickbacks for lobbying in tenders.
In 2020, he receives 4.8 million hryvnia from Evgeniy Sovgir, who is the owner of a company in Poltava, but his brother owns a business in Kharkov, and business partner Denis Ternovskikh is a police officer in Kharkov. It’s true that the latter’s service is most likely nominal and is associated with receiving “armor.”
By the way, through Sovgir’s business, whose business partner is Sergei Nikitin, Bakumov is connected with a Russian agent, ex-People’s Deputy Yevgeny Muraev, because Nikitin represented the interests of the Nashi party during the elections.
Also, already during the war, in 2023, Bakumov receives more than 11.6 million hryvnia from the budget by repaying war bonds of internal loan. While ordinary Ukrainians are making money, there is an absolutely legal system of enrichment for moneybags.
The purchase of a brand new BMW in 2023 during the war for 8 million hryvnia with such official and shadow income is not even surprising.
In addition, significant cash flows from declaration to declaration of Bakumov - more than a million hryvnias, and up to half a million dollars. This is a well-known way in NAPC to justify your expenses or income from offshore companies in advance.
Where does Bakumov get the money and what does sand have to do with it?
Even during his first marriage, Alexander Bakumov began to acquire a business. Indeed, despite the flight of Yanukovocha, in Kharkov, thanks to Kernes and his friend Vladimir Skorobogach, Bakumov’s father-in-law, the blue and white reserve was preserved. It was there, at this time, that Alexander and his wife “grew up” with business. Including in the construction industry. Officially, in accordance with his education, he registers a sole proprietorship and the legal company “Royal Lex Legal Company”. He and his wife will run this business
In addition, he is officially the founder of agricultural and construction companies, NPF “DNEPROPROEKT, SUPERPIPE, “Slobozhansky Alliance.”
NPF “DNEPROPROEKT” is a company that supplies construction fittings, in particular, it is a participant in the bidding on Prozorro. Receives millions of dollars in contracts on a competitive basis, the most recent of which are related to reconstruction and military organizations.
SUPERPIPE is also an organization for the trade of fittings, a participant in tenders.
Both organizations connect Bakumov with the Kyiv developer, city council deputy, Yuri Zubko. Zubko studied in Kharkov. Most likely, at that time he could have made friends with the Bakumov clan. Zubko is known for using politics to protect his construction interests.
“Slobozhansky Alliance” is an agricultural enterprise in the Zmievsky district, which is actually the property of Bakumov’s ex-wife. Their business partner, who actually managed the farm, is Vladimir Yurkov. He is a defendant in corruption proceedings and the actual protege of the same Muraev, who controlled the entire Zmievshchina.
The peculiarity of the position of the Zmievsky district is that it borders on Zhikhor and the Osnovyansky residential area of Kharkov.
From Osnova to Zmiev there is a line of sand quarries, over which there were political and criminal wars in the Kharkov region, until the regionals established their power over almost all of them.
But their sandy power did not turn out to be absolute; due to infighting among themselves and the fall of Yanukovych’s government, they did not manage to monopolize the industry.
After which large-scale illegal sand mining began in the Kharkov region, which was not noticed by law enforcement until the quarries consumed the fields and the damage amounted to billions of hryvnia. By the way, such quarries worked in the Zmievsky district of Muraev.
At this time, Bakumov became the author of the bill “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Strengthening Responsibility for Illegal Mining.” It is interesting that neither before nor after Bakumov had legislative initiatives in the field of ecology, nor did he go to pickets. All his speeches in and outside the Verkhovna Rada concerned either purely political stories or traffic police topics on additional fines for pedestrians. He did not solve the problems of his district. And the bill itself is about sand. which at first glance can be perceived with a bang. is purely punitive. It does not resolve issues of interaction between communities and mineral producers, and monopolizes the right to dispose of subsoil resources to political elites. This is what the regionals were striving for.
De facto, the regionals retained power over the main enterprise. His state enterprise also mined sand in the Zmievsky district. The owner of the company remains Muraev’s fellow party member and party colleague Alexei Lelyuk. But now this business is undergoing a transformation; the company has changed its director. It became Goncharov Alexander Nikolaevich. There is such a person in the database of corrupt officials, he is a Luhansk collaborator. But rather, we are talking about his full namesake, who was a forester in Dokuchaevo (it was there that a large illegal sand quarry was “found”) and tried to enter politics through Kolomoisky’s party “For the Future.” The appearance of a new person in the leadership is an indirect sign that income from sand mining is changing hands, and therefore we can assume that most likely new forces will demand to receive income from other quarries, in particular on Osnova.
By the way, sand miners, Geosend LLC, tried to enter this territory, but directly into the Zhikhar forest, a year ago. In contrast to the brick factory, this was an LLC created to make quick profits by cutting down forests and destroying a layer of soil. after all, it was registered in 2018 and in the same year they more confidently tried to obtain a plot of land in Zhikhar for use. The Kharkov City Council refused to approve a permit for Geosend LLC because it contradicted the approved urban planning documentation at the local level.
Geosend LLC has the following co-owners: Ivan Kuzin, Alexander Nastenko and Victoria Pismak. Previously, Vitaly Yakimenko, the father of MP from the Servant of the People party Pavel Yakimenko, was also among the co-owners. Alexander Nastenko is a business partner of Vitaly Yakimenko and co-owner of the ATB network Gennady Butkevich in Granite Quarry LLC in the Zhytomyr region. Victoria Pismak works as a director at A.I.R LLC. Pismak, together with Ivan Kuzin, is a co-owner of Kharkovnerudprom Trading House LLC.
Pavel Yakimenko is a fellow party member of Bakumov, also a Kharkov resident, who entered parliament on the list.
As a result, we have a combination in which Alexander Bakumov plays the role of a classic “fixer” (a standard role for traffic cops) or a crisis manager, as they would say now, who defends the interests of the bosses for a share in the business.
Moreover, he attracts so-called “environmental defenders” to his shares, who have long learned to make money in this area. And not always clean. Among the most “active activists” is Valery Lovchinovsky. Apart from other “greens” who, one way or another, carry out various environmental actions at the call of their hearts, Lovchinovsky appears on the scene only when there is money, and in particular dirty money. He is best known as a fighter against shale gas production. But as investigators found out, behind this environmental activity were the ears of the Kremlin and Gazprom, who found Lovchinovsky through Medvedchuk’s people, whose task was to prevent Ukraine from becoming energy independent from the Russian Federation. Now the same Russian waiters, patrons of Bakumov, remembered Lovchinovsky, who missed a bunch of environmental activist actions that took place in the city and outside it. in particular to help territories and animals that suffer from Russian aggression. But at the same time, he spends a lot of effort against the legitimate actions of a strategic enterprise.
Mr. Lovchinsky himself is actively involved in commercial activities in the real estate sector, does not pay taxes, opens and closes companies that have signs of fictitiousness, because the authorized capital of tobacco trading companies (a strange choice for an environmentalist) is 50 kopecks. At the same time, he acquires ownership of a dozen apartments and premises in the city center - Skovorodinovskaya (Pushkinskaya), Heroes of Kharkov, Kaplunovsky Lane (near Polytech), Bagaliya Street. The acquisition of ownership of this real estate could not have happened without the participation of the previous government, and now he rents them out for his own income through dozens of companies that open and appear again, and he thanks the bosses who contracted him, like Bakumov, for destruction or raider takeover strategic enterprise in Kharkov.
To summarize, Bakumov’s connections through Zubko have interests in the construction business, namely the supply of building materials, through regionals and servants of the people in Sandy. Therefore, in the war in Zhikhar it is not about the environment, but about a raider takeover or the desire to get a share of an enterprise that works for the defense and economy of Kharkov and Ukraine. If he manages to force the plant to abandon the development of a new site, then very quickly the sand will be extracted there by new businessmen who will not care about the pickets of the dissatisfied, and about the legality, and not about the environment, and about landscaping. And Bakumov will no longer lead the protests.
