The Center for Journalistic Investigations reported about it.

On December 30, 2021, oligarch Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF announced that CJSC Ukrainian Chemical Products, which until 2014 was called Crimean Titan, had sold all its Crimean assets to Russian Titan.

The centre asked the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine whether it had permitted the merger of the business entity before selling the assets of СJSC Ukrainian Chemical Products in occupied Crimea.

The first deputy chairperson of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, Olga Muzychenko, answered that participants of the agreement on the sale of the Crimean titanium plant didn’t address AMCU for permission for the merger.

“During 2021, the Committee did not receive applications from СJSC “Ukrainian Chemical Products” to grant a merger with the participation of a plant for the production of titanium dioxide in Armyansk and the company “Russian Titanium”, and therefore the relevant decisions were not taken by the Committee", - the message read.

The letter of the AMCU also states that, according to the Law on Protection of Economic Competition, its direct participants, i.e., the seller and the buyer, must jointly submit the application for a merger permit.

Agia Zagrebelska, the co-founder of the Antitrust League, believes that Firtash’s СJSC Ukrainian Chemical Products should have applied to the AMCU for permission before selling its assets in occupied Crimea, as there are legal grounds for recognizing it as a member of the merger.

"If we calculate the amount of income and the value of assets of all companies associated with Dmitry Firtash, it will definitely exceed the thresholds provided by antitrust law. But it is quite clear to me why they did not apply. Because these are assets in Russian-occupied Crimea, and these are assets related to Dmitry Firtash. So I don't think they would get any permission", - Zagrebelska said.

According to the expert, they did not apply for permission because they did not reveal the real buyer of the titanium plant.

"We do not know who bought these assets. We see unnamed companies with gray capital. Anyone can hide behind this company, even Firtash himself. If they applied to the Antimonopoly Committee for permission, they would have to reveal the ownership structure of Russky Titan, and the AMCU would have the opportunity to find out who is the real buyer and who is hiding behind the company", - Zagrebelska explained.

According to her, the Antimonopoly Committee has grounds to start an investigation into the merger of the business entity without the permission of the AMC. In particular, the Center for Journalistic Investigations, with the assistance of the Antitrust League, is preparing a statement to the Committee to open such an investigation.

What is known

• The products of the enterprises of occupied Crimea are supplied by rail from the territory of the peninsula through the Russian Federation to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. A significant share of these supplies фку the products of chemical companies owned by Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash.
• A massive layoff was planned at the Crimean Titan plant in December last year.
• In occupied Crimea, 19 wells supply water to the Crimean Titan branch in Armyansk.

Follow us on Telegram