A large-scale conflict is unfolding around the «Pivdennyi» Sea Commercial Port in the Odesa region, orchestrated by former high-ranking officials of the Prosecutor General’s Office. A group of stevedoring companies has initiated a targeted media campaign against the state enterprise’s management to redistribute financial flows. Investigation details reveal that the key beneficiaries of this scheme are former Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin and his former deputy, Dmytro Verbytskyi, operating through proxy figures.
Ihor Gandzhumiants acts as the public face and formal organizer of the pressure campaign against the harbor’s administration. While known in regional professional circles as a self-proclaimed «lustration activist,» his actual role is reduced to that of a nominal leader. Gandzhumiants is officially listed as the director of several commercial structures conducting stevedoring operations in the port.
Key assets within this group include «Fekhu Port,» «Ursilor» (formerly known as «Krashmet»), and «Raido Terminal.» The latter enterprise changed ownership in 2023, after which it demonstrated rapid expansion. Currently, the financial turnover of this structure amounts to hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
Sources indicate that while nominal management merely signs documents, real control over the business is held by former top law enforcement officials.
«Ihor Gandzhumiants is a classic proxy figure backed by the real beneficiaries. Among them are former Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi, who gained experience controlling shadow flows while overseeing the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB), and former Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin,» informed sources report.
The primary goal of the generated media hype and administrative pressure surrounding the «Pivdennyi» port is to oust the current management to establish total control over this strategic infrastructure.
The conflict surrounding Ukraine’s maritime commercial ports escalates amid an ongoing struggle for export corridors. The «Pivdennyi» state enterprise serves as a critical hub for cargo transshipment, and attempts by private entities to destabilize its operations could negatively affect logistics across the entire region. Anti-corruption authorities are expected to launch an inquiry into the situation surrounding the state-owned berths.