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Feb 22, 2006 -- BBC Monitoring
Real battles involving truncheons and gas sprays have flared up again over Ukrainian regional energy distribution companies. Unidentified individuals today seized the office of the Chernihivoblenerho regional energy distribution company. Another four distribution companies are also under siege - in Poltava, Lviv, Sumy and Ivano-Frankivsk. Attempts to capture all of them were made exactly a year ago at the same time. Who is behind these seasonal attacks and why? Inna Koval tried to find this out along with government members. [Serhiy Openko, captioned as chief controller at Chernihivoblenerho, in Russian] At about 1350-1355 a windowpane was smashed in the control room. Three people in black camouflage burst in. They forced the controllers to put down the phones. They forbade them to make any calls and ripped out the phone cords. [Correspondent] It was not residents of Chernihiv Region only who found themselves facing the threat of a blackout. An emergency regime was introduced today at another four regional energy companies - in Poltava, Sumy, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. All women and personnel not involved in the technological cycle were told to go. Security was tightened in administrative buildings. [Oleksandr Buben, captioned as Prykarpattyaoblenerho board chairman, in Russian] Last night as chairman of the board of the [Ivano-Frankivsk] Prykarpattyaoblenerho I issued an official report stating that about 150 fighters entered the territory of our region and our city - fighters headed by a former special services man, Telizhenko, who is working for one of the shareholders of our company, Grigorishin. [Correspondent] All five regional energy distribution companies in Chernihiv, Poltava, Lviv, Sumy and Ivano-Frankivsk belong to private investors who are still at odds over shares. In February 2005 unidentified people in camouflage already seized the offices of energy companies in Ivano-Frankivsk and Poltava while the other regional distribution companies in the holding worked in a state of emergency. A year has passed, but the corporate conflict is still unsolved. [Volodymyr Plechun, captioned as representative of the Ukrenerhokonsaltinh company, in Russian] I call this lawlessness. These are links in the same chain - what happened exactly a year ago. Exactly a year ago, Poltavaoblenerho and Prykarpattyaoblenerho were attacked. Those attacks were carried out by the people and forces of Mr Grigorishin and his backer Mr Poroshenko. I believe that today it was the same forces and the same people. [Correspondent] Despite the fact that the state holds 25-per-cent stakes in these energy companies, the [state] company that runs them, Energy Company of Ukraine, limited itself to requests to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] to intervene and ensure uninterrupted supplies of electric energy to customers. [Prime Minister] Yuriy Yekhanurov said he had instructed First Deputy Prime Minister Stanislav Stashevskyy to settle the situation. At the moment, energy supplies to five regions depend on the success of one set of shareholders repelling attacks by other shareholders. An attempt to seize the local energy company is expected in Poltava tomorrow. [Video shows smashed control room at the Chernihivoblenerho company, police cordons, security guards at other companies, government in session.] [Interfax-Ukraine reported at 1912 gmt on 22 February that the police had unblocked the Chernihivoblenerho building, detaining the attackers, who were employees of a security firm hired to enforce the change of the company's board director on the basis of a court ruling by a Kiev district court.] Source: One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1730 gmt 22 Feb 06 BBC Mon KVU 220206 gk News Provided By |
