Serhii Merenkov has been appointed as the acting president/general designer of the Antonov state enterprise from August 1, 2014, the press service of the Ministry of Industrial Policy announced in a statement, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports.
"The ministry, as a state agency for managing state property, has appointed Serhii Merenkov as the head of the Antonov state enterprise in accordance with a government decision," the press service of the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the relevant order is the order No. 47-D dated July 24, 2014. Until now, Dmytro Kiva was the president/general designer of the Antonov state enterprise.
At the same time, the press service of Antonov state enterprise issued a statement on Friday alleging that a group of people led by Merenkov and coordinated by Deputy Minister of Industrial Policy Oleksandr Kalenkov attempted a corporate raid on the state enterprise.
"Alerted by security, the enterprise’s self-defense units and employees encircled the ‘raiders’ and expelled them from the territory of the enterprise," the press service of Antonov said, adding that an appeal has been sent to President Petro Poroshenko to protect the enterprise’s employees and enforce the rule of law.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers directive No. 340 of April 9, 2014, relieved Kiva of the post of board chairman of the Antonov state enterprise. The Ministry of Industrial Policy also prepared an order on termination of Kiva’s contract as the general designer of the Antonov state enterprise in May.
Merenkov was a senior specialist for production of the An-140 passenger aircraft at Antonov, but he was forced to leave enterprise in 2006.
