Kiev, Ukraine. Only in the collapse of the Ukrainian empire do corruption events become celebrations of the elite screwing their fellow citizens; welcome to the Kiev Coal Corruption Festival 2017.
In the South African port of Richards Bay, a second delivery of 75,000 tons of anthracite began loading on a cargo vessel. This coal is intended to replenish the warehouses of the thermal power plants of DTEK holding that belongs to corrupt oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.
“The loading of the vessel will take a little more than a week and its arrival in Ukraine is expected in mid-July,” he said. According to Akhmetov, seventy-five thousand tons of anthracite coal will be directed to Kryvyi Rih and Pridneprovska TPP upon arrival in Ukraine.
Akhmetov also recalled that the supply of coal from South Africa will provide for the peak loads experienced by Ukraine’s energy system during the summer months. Ukraine can not by their own laws, buy coal from Russia, due to their own self destructive policies.
So they contract with an Oligarch like Akhmetov to get the coal to Ukraine. To date, not one Ukrainian official is willing to say why Ukraine can not buy its coal direct from Canada, the USA, Australia or South Africa, without Mr. Akhmetov getting richer off the misfortune of Ukraine’s citizens.
The first ship with anthracite from South Africa arrived in the port of Yuzhny on May 25. The ship was unloaded in less than three days. Authorities plan to unload one Panamax-type vessel full of African coal each month.
Rinat Akhmetov bought 600,000 tons of anthracite in South Africa last April with the option to extend purchases to 1 million tons, which he will do, as long as he splits a percentage of the sale with Petro Poroshenko, his partner in the venture.