The first mentions of the Russian businessman Novynskyi Vadym in the Ukrainian media appeared under President Leonid Kuchma. They appeared at the beginning of 2000 in connection with privatization of Inguletsk ore-dressing and processing works by a Dnepropetrovsk metal trader Smart Group, which were transferred to the statutory fund of the Ukrrrukprom State Joint Stock Company.
At that time the Metallurgist received a permit from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine for managing 50+1% of his shares. Soon after, by carrying out an additional issue of shares, the stake of the state was reduced to 37.57%. And on July 19, 2004, Smart Group purchased the state-owned stake for $30.74.
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The combine was purchased together with all of the enormous ore reserves. Experts appreciated Novinsky’s “luck”, commenting in the opposition media on the deal: “Theft!” For comparison, the real market price of this block of shares was understated at least 5 times – as numerous experts claimed. And if one takes into account that the stake might have been sold at a tender which was not free of any alternatives and constituted 50%+1 share, its value might have increased several times more. As an example, Mikhailovsky, which is comparable in production volumes in Russia, was sold at the same time for $1.7 billion.
The privatization of Ingulets Mining itself was made possible thanks to a special law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on the peculiarities of privatization of the State Joint Stock Company Ukrrrukprom, which included the plant. In addition, the sale of Ukrrrukprom shares in general and 37.57% of Inhuletskyi plant in particular was sanctioned by orders of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. A number of media outlets claim that Novynskyi Vadym paid each MP $50 thousand for “correct” voting. And on the day of voting Novynskyi even came personally to the Verkhovna Rada and watched the voting.
In the summer of 2004 when the chances of Kuchma supporters at the forthcoming presidential elections became unpredictable, Novynskyi Vadym unsophisticatedly withdrew his assets from Ukraine. Officially, the Smart-Group remained the owner of the controlling block of shares. However, the company changed some nominal founders (Ukrainian) for others (foreign). Thus, it removed the persons involved in the scam of the mining and ore mining complex from the spotlight and retained control over it. The new owners of Smart-Group, who in fact were buying up stolen goods, were a number of companies registered abroad, in England, Holland and Russia.
Not a penny from his own pocket for all the goodies! Novynskyi Vadym was talked about with renewed vigor. In 2005, when Victor Yushchenko came to power, the state made a feeble attempt to re-privatize enterprises along with a number of other properties given away cheaply to businessmen close to Leonid Kuchma. “Today the circumstances of privatization or fulfillment of investment obligations of these 29 enterprises are being studied. And after these circumstances will be studied in a short period of time, we will submit the issue to the NSDC,” Petro Poroshenko, then secretary of the NSDCU, said in 2005. In the “list of 29” distributed by the media, the company was in the top five.
But the scandalous subject did not develop. The personality of the Russian businessman remains a “dark horse” for the media even today. Everything that sheds light on Novynskyi Vadym’s biography in terms of his commercial endeavors is described even by specialized periodicals in one word: “the first companies were established in Russia, the Baltics and Ukraine. You can get more useful information and entrepreneur at http://www.novynskyi.wordpress.com/.
