The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure dismissed the Chornomorsk seaport’s Director Serhii Sechkin and the Belgorod-Dniester seaport’s Director Kostiantyn Voloschuk on September 30.
The Ministry of Infrastructure announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
According to earlier reports, the Odesa seaport’s Director Viktor Voitko has also lost his job.
“We now plan to put things in order because we will end all those backroom dealings that exist in the port industry... Voitko is just an example. We will launch a ‘jihad’ against many people,” Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Kryklyi said at a news briefing in Odesa.
Information about the dismissals of the heads of the three state-owned port operators was later posted on the website of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
“The state is not an efficient owner. Therefore, we are placing high hopes on concession projects. However, this this does not mean that we will not respond to port managements’ actions that inflict losses on state enterprises. Voitko is one of the 10 highest earning directors of state companies despite the fact that the financial state of the enterprise is very questionable," Kryklyi is quoted as saying.
According to the ministry, Voitko's wage bill amounted to UAH 5.2 million in 2018. The average monthly salary was UAH 439,991.39 in 2018. Thus, the head of the Odesa seaport ranked sixth among the largest state-owned companies in terms of wage bill, ahead of the Boryspil airport, the Ukrposhta postal company, and the Ukraine Seaports Authority.
That notwithstanding, according to the ministry, the company’s financial indicators have deteriorated significantly. In particular, its net sales revenue amounted to UAH 164.9 million in 2018, compared with the projected UAH 323.6 million, while its total revenue amounted to UAH 421.9 million compared with the projected UAH 552 million.
"The imbalance between revenue and expenditures has negatively affected the enterprise’s financial indicators and led to a reduction from UAH 303.2 million in 2016 to UAH 19.2 million in 2018 and losses of UAH 55.1 million in the first half of 2019," the ministry said.
In addition, according to the ministry, the company has no financial plan for 2020.
“The performances of the heads of the Chornomorsk commercial seaport and the Belgorod-Dniester commercial seaport also failed to meet the requirements for efficient management of port industry enterprises,” the Ministry of Infrastructure said on its website.
According to Kryklyi, these are only the first in a series of dismissals that the ministry is planning in the Ukrainian port sector.
