Black Sea ships. Destroyed Fleet
May 6th, 2013
Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPiT), coat of arms, Evpatoria, Crimea, photo: Krutikov D.A.
Black Sea Shipping Company- the oldest shipping company on the Black Sea, starting its history at the time Russian Empire when in 1833 the joint-stock Black Sea Society of Steamboats was created to establish permanent relations between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The base port of the shipping company is the city of Odessa. May 2013 marks the 180th anniversary of the founding of the Black Sea Shipping Company.
On May 16, 1833, with the support of M. S. Vorontsov, who in 1823 became the Governor-General of Novorossiysk and Minister of Finance E. F. Kankrin, Emperor Nicholas I approved the creation of a joint-stock company for a period of ten years to establish permanent communications between Odessa and Constantinople by means of steamships. This is how the "Black Sea Society of Steamboats" was born - the founder of the Odessa Black Sea Shipping Company, and Odessa became Russia's "southern sea window" to the West. (Denis Balukh, Alexander Surilov. Forgotten Odessa: historical essays in two books. - Odessa: optimum, 2008.) It was decided that the joint-stock company's steamship flotilla would consist of three vessels: the Neva and the Emperor Nikolai steamships built in Nikolaev and Empress Alexandra. Of these, two ships were supposed to be used for postal transportation and one for towing Russian sailing ships in the Bosphorus. The direct organizer of the "Black Sea Society of Steamboats" was the Odessa mayor, real state councilor Alexei Iraklievich Levshin ..
Odessa Commercial Sea Port, Coastal harbor, motor ship "Bashkiria" 1989
In 1843, the "Black Sea Society of Steamboats" was reorganized into the "Expedition of Constant Steamship Communications of Odessa with Constantinople", which in 1845 merged with the "Commission of Novorossiysk Steamboats", which operated steamboats that sailed along the internal Black Sea lines, and received a new name: "Novorossiysk Steamboat Expedition", abbreviated - Odessa expedition. Steamboats of the Odessa expedition Naslednik, Mithridates, Andia, Dargo, Berdyansk, Taganrog, Peter the Great, Taganrog (iron), Luba (iron), Taman (iron ), "Count Vorontsov" (iron), and others served the internal Black Sea and Azov lines. For the first Black Sea international steamship line Odessa - Constantinople in 1843, 4 steam frigates with steam engines with a capacity of 250 hp were ordered in England. pp.: "Odessa", "Khersonesos", "Crimea" and "Bessarabia". Their design was distinguished by increased reliability and allowed the use of both commercial and military purposes. Until 1853, when the war with Turkey began, steam frigates regularly served the Novorossiysk Steamship Expedition, regularly transporting mail, passengers and trade cargo between Odessa and Constantinople under the flag of the packet ship, and leaving on flights every ten days. During the Crimean War, they were re-armed and entered the detachment of steam frigates of the Black Sea Fleet, whose sailors heroically proved themselves during the defense of Sevastopol and sank part of their ships, including the steam regattas "Crimea", "Odessa", "Bessarabia" and the iron packet steamer " Elborus "on the Sevastopol roadstead in August 1855, so that they would not get to the enemy.
During the Crimean War, the Black Sea merchant fleet suffered losses: in particular, eight steam ships remained in good condition. Under these conditions, the activities of the Odessa expedition did not resume. Instead, for the development of regular, or urgent, shipping traffic on the Black Sea in 1856, a joint-stock company was created on its basis: the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPiT). (Stepanov D. A. Establishment of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (1856-1857) // Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. - 2011. - No. 22 (237). - Issue 46. History. - P. 30-38.) The Odessa main office of the society was located in the former palace of I.O. Witt on st. Lanzheronovskaya, (Odessa sights: Palace of I. O. Witt: Description) building, currently owned by the Black Sea Shipping Company.
Odessa commercial seaport, marine station, 1989,
The government gave ROPiT a large loan and a five-year permit for duty-free purchase of ships abroad. In 1857, ROPiT purchased five steamships from England, the first of which arrived in Odessa was the Nikolay passenger paddle steamer, a ship capable of taking on board 200 passengers. In addition, ROPiT acquired the Khersones, Andia, Dargo, Danube, Taganrog and Count Vorontsov ships from the Novorossiysk Steamship Expedition, which had ceased operations. After all the acquisitions, by the end of 1857, ROPiT had a fleet of 17 steamships, which allowed it not only to start an urgent steamship service guaranteed by the government between the Black Sea and Azov ports, but also to open the international line Odessa - Constantinople - Marseille.
In 1920, after graduating civil war about 5% of the ships remained from the merchant fleet on the Black Sea. Establishing final control over Black Sea coast, the Soviet government took up the restoration of the merchant fleet.
On June 13, 1922, the Council of Labor and Defense of the republic established the Baltic, Northern, Black Sea-Azov and Caspian shipping companies in the system of the People's Commissariat of Railways, and entrusted the general management of their activities to the Central Board of the State Trade Fleet.
After the Great Patriotic War, in connection with the increase in the volume of transportation, separate Black Sea, Azov and Georgian shipping companies were created. Odessa remained the base port of the Black Sea Shipping Company (ChMP), where, in addition to the Odessa port, there was a ship repair plant.
On the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Black Sea Shipping Company was the most powerful in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It consisted of about 300 ships of various classes. This number included: 21 passenger ships with a total capacity of 12,000 passengers serving 14 ocean and 20 domestic lines; 260 modern universal ships of various classes, with a displacement of 5 million tons. It was the leader in the navy of the USSR, which on January 1, 1990 consisted of 17 shipping companies, 1800 ships with a total deadweight of 22.4 million tons, 67 ports and 26 ship repair enterprises. (Grankov L. From the history of navigation // Marine Fleet. - 2008. - No. 2. - P. 68).
After the collapse of the USSR, the Black Sea Shipping Company (ChMP), together with the Azov Shipping Company (AMP) and the Soviet Danube Shipping Company (SDP), were removed from the allied Ministry of the Navy of the USSR and the Ministry of the River Fleet of the USSR. The ChMP was transferred to the jurisdiction of the State Administration of Maritime Transport of Ukraine (Ukrmorflot) formed on January 2, 1992, which became the successor of the USSR Ministry of the Navy on the territory of Ukraine. (On the establishment of the State Administration of Maritime Transport of Ukraine. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Decree of January 2, 1992 No. 4.) Ukrmorflot disposed of the property of the CMP together with the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU). The regulation on Ukrmorflot was approved by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine on February 18, 1992. According to paragraph 7 (c), Ukrmorflot received the right: "to change flags, in agreement with the State Property Fund of Ukraine, sell, lay down ships in order to obtain loans to finance fleet replenishment programs." (Regulations on the State Administration of Maritime Transport of Ukraine. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Resolution of February 18, 1992 No. 76.).+
Data on the composition of the NMP and assessments of its state in 1991 differ. According to information available from the open press, in 1991 the CMP included 234 cargo, passenger and other classes of ships with a total deadweight of 4167 thousand tons, most of which were in operational readiness. ChMP ended 1991 with a profit of 270 million rubles and foreign exchange earnings of 788 million dollars. On the other hand, there was a question of updating the fleet, since in 1992 29 units were scheduled for decommissioning, and in total until 2000 - about 120. (Leonid Kapelyushny. An optimistic tragedy, or the history of Blasko-ChMP in revision tales , official documents and journalistic passions and sufferings // Mirror of Ukraine. - 1994. - October 21).
The capacities of the Black Sea Shipping Company were created primarily to serve the needs of the centralized, planned economy of the USSR. After the destruction of the unified economic complex that had developed in the USSR in 1991, the CMP found itself in a difficult financial situation. Already in December 1992, the total debt of the CMP on loans amounted to $ 170 million, in the same year 28 ships were written off. In the current economic situation, in order to avoid downtime of courts, the Prime Minister of Ukraine L.D. Kuchma suggested transferring the ships to offshore intermediary companies with their subsequent registration in a foreign jurisdiction to use the commercial and passenger fleet of the ChMP, which is idle without a freight. President of Ukraine L.M. Kravchuk approved this proposal. According to press reports, in 2013 he recognized this decision as a mistake. (Kravchuk took the blame for the collapse of the Ukrainian merchant fleet. Korrespondent.net, February 3, 2013.)
On February 17, 1993, Ukrmorflot was liquidated, and the ChMP came under the leadership of the newly created Ministry of Transport of Ukraine (1992-2004). (Issues of the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Resolution of February 17, 1993 No. 106.)
On August 13, 1993, by decree of the President of Ukraine L. Kravchuk, the shipping concern "Blasco - Black Sea Shipping Company" was established in the form of an open joint-stock company. (On the establishment of a joint-stock shipping concern "Blasco" - "Black Sea Shipping Company" Decree of the President of Ukraine dated 13.08.1993 No. 303/93.)
Kudyukin P.V. was appointed the president of the concern, who replaced V.V. Pilipenko at the head of the CMP. According to the decree, Blasko became the legal successor of all movable and immovable property of the Black Sea Shipping Company in Ukraine and abroad.
On December 24, 1993, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine suspended the process of corporatization of the Black Sea Shipping Company and vetoed the presidential decree. In response, L. Kravchuk issued a new decree confirming the authority of the leadership of Blasco-ChMP. (On Joint-Stock Shipping Concern "Blasko" - "Black Sea Shipping Company" Decree of the President of Ukraine dated 28.12.1993 No. 606/93). Both decrees of L. Kravchuk were, in turn, canceled in January 1995 by L. Kuchma, who became president of Ukraine. (On recognizing as invalid the Decrees of the President of Ukraine of August 13, 1993 N 303 and of December 28, 1993 N 606 Decree of the President of Ukraine of 01/24/1995 No. 77/95.) shipping companies. An investigative deputy commission was created under the leadership of the former prosecutor of the Primorsky district of Odessa, people's deputy Yu.A. Karamzin.
As of January 1993, the CHMP had 227 ships, but of these, 160 were scattered around the world offshore. The first arrests of ships began on various, often far-fetched, pretexts: 11 of them were missing. After the transformation of ChMP into a joint-stock company, destructive tendencies intensified. Interest on loans grew, Blasco-ChMP's income was hidden and transferred to offshore banks. As a result, a criminal case was opened against P. V. Kudyukin and he was convicted for implementing, as it turned out, an erroneous plan to transfer ships to intermediary companies.
In 1995, when the company's fleet consisted of 216 ships, A.V. Koval came to its leadership, who did not figure out where the funds and ships were withdrawn, and besides, he lost another 30 pennants. The mechanisms launched by his predecessors continued to absorb the funds and ships of the company. In the same 1995, the next head of A. M. Stognenko was appointed; the fleet of the ChMP was reduced to 186 pennants; new loans were taken, which were no longer realistic to return, and, as a result, a wave of arrests of CMP ships went around the world: in 1995-1997, the company lost 171 ships. As of January 1998, 15 pennants remained.
In July 2004, the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine, which carried out the overall management of the CMP, was reorganized into the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine.
As of 2004, the company had 6 vessels and 17 outstanding loans totaling $11 million. In 2005, the losses of GSK "ChMP" amounted to half a million dollars.
In 2006, a sanitation procedure was introduced at GSK "ChMP".
In 2008, the Black Sea Shipping Company celebrated its 175th anniversary since its founding. On the eve of the anniversary, the Minister of Transport and Communications of Ukraine, K. Efimenko, announced the need for a prosecutor's check on the legality of the alienation of the ChMP's property. He called the CMP bankruptcy procedure "unmotivated" and leading to the withdrawal from state control of the enterprise, the balance sheet value of which is over UAH 500 million. As a result, according to K. Efimenko, state property is alienated by creating artificial debts for next to nothing. In his statement, the minister urged to prevent the liquidation of the Black Sea Shipping Company. (Minister of Transport and Communications of Ukraine Konstantin Efimenko will not allow the liquidation of the Black Sea Shipping Company. Online archive of the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.)
In December 2010, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine was once again reorganized, and the CMP was subordinated to the State Maritime and river transport now the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. As of today, the CMP fleet has been reduced to one pennant
The procedure for the rehabilitation of GSK "CHMP" continues.
here is what he writes Anatoly Foka, doctor of technical sciences, ship's senior mechanic
Nostalgic reflections on a lost fleet
The problems of the Ukrainian fleet after the restoration of the statehood of Ukraine in 1991, in fact, did not differ much from the problems of other sectors of the economy that had previously been of all-Union significance. In the first months, we were all in the euphoria of independence, believing that now the whole world would be in line for all kinds of cooperation with us and receiving all forms of our products. Our politically active guys did not even suspect that there is a fierce struggle for a place under the sun on the world market, and only with an excellent reputation confirmed for decades can one hope for success. And since we inherited from the USSR such an energy-intensive and low-quality production of all types of products (excluding the means for the destruction of mankind, where we were ahead of the rest), it turned out that we are absolutely not needed in the civilized world.
Stable economic ties with the countries of the former USSR were broken (the last hope for the sale of poor products). Illiterate political bawlers and adventurers of all stripes rushed into the economy. Least of all anyone was interested in the issue of lack of professionalism.
The opponents of the formation of Ukraine as a politically and economically independent state very quickly woke up from the shock. With a variety of ultimate goals, they united together in a fairly powerful coalition and began their destructive activities. Basically, this fifth column consisted of:
- leftist parties of all types, from pink socialists to red-brown Bolsheviks. They wanted to restore their lost unlimited power over the people by any means, returning us to the state of thoughtlessly chewing and meekly working cattle;
- supporters of the restoration of a single and indivisible Soviet empire (at least on the basis of Great Russia), when it was possible, having received the blessing of Moscow, to feel like a complete master "to the very outskirts", spitting on the culture, language, national traditions of these very outskirts, cracking down on any dissent under the pretext of uprooting "nationalism", exiling to Siberia both individual cultural figures and families of opponents of the system, and, if necessary, entire nations. Yes, and in Russia, “the closest to us”, an old dream was promoted with might and main - to wash their tarpaulin boots in the waters indian ocean, sitting next to the bare heels of the friendly people of India;
- and, of course, thieves of all stripes and ranks, ranging from ordinary racketeers to (as sad experience has shown) prime ministers. This category always strives to destroy any system, realizing that in conditions of political and economic instability it is so easy to put your hand into the people's pocket!
Under such conditions of the unanimous action of destructive forces, an attempt to develop the economy is practically doomed to failure. And if we take into account that such an industry as the navy has never been controlled by the republican administration, it becomes obvious that the continued existence of the fleet should have consisted of only problems.
And then the first mention of the Ukrainian navy appeared. The then Prime Minister V. Fokin publicly stated: “What about that fleet? If it will be necessary to transport, then we will hire two layers and we will transport it!
When I heard this statement, I was afraid for the fate of our fleet. And the point is not only that the Prime Minister signed his unprofessionalism and even simple ignorance, not realizing that the service sector (which transport refers to) is an eternal activity in its kind (unlike the mining or processing industry) and brings profit with virtually no negative consequences for the country (destruction of resources, environmental pollution, etc.). Japan, the poorest in resources, has risen on services and high technologies. Both yesterday and today, there is a continuous struggle for the right to own transport lines in the world. And then suddenly such economic "discoveries". The most terrible thing for me was that during the public announcement of the anti-state policy, none of the many ministers and members of the Verkhovna Rada objected with a single word. What is it - the ignorance of those in power or conscious support for the collapse of the country's economy?
Rather, it's both. And then it became clear to us, professionals who had devoted their whole lives to working at sea, that the fleet was doomed.
This became clear to other persons (also well versed in the activities of the fleet), they understood that the green light was open to the complete plunder of maritime transport.
The most powerful blow to the fleet was dealt when one of the world's largest shipping companies, the Black Sea Shipping Company, was headed by the "reed captain" Pilipenko. Having lost his reputation after actively supporting the Moscow Putsch (GKChP), he was looking for ways to save his career by any means and tried to prove his loyalty to his patrons in Moscow by deeds. To a large extent, this was facilitated by the incompetence and corruption of Kiev officials - the money earned by the sailors of the Black Sea Shipping Company, not controlled by the state, disappeared right and left.
Who only at that time did not ride on the ships of the ChMP, receiving a salary at the rates of the senior officers of the courts or other kinds of monetary and material benefits!
The trip of fleet veterans to Istanbul was memorable. The pensioners were brought on an old passenger ship to a picnic in Turkey, given a “drink” and delivered (not quite alive and healthy) to Odessa, where they were supposed to express gratitude to the head of the shipping company (look how he respects and loves sailors!).
High city medical officials also rode (receiving the salary of senior assistants), successfully studying the acute problem of cockroach breeding in the ports of India, which is urgent for Ukraine.
Targeted tours of important dignitaries were successfully carried out, for example, with a guaranteed opportunity to buy cars in Japan. So, on the ship "Mechanic Dren" five senior mechanics went to China for repairs. Of course, a full-time senior mechanic was engaged in repairs, and the rest (wow, how respected in Odessa the public!) Received the same salary and, for the sake of which they rushed to these distant countries, the dream of all Soviet sailors - business trips. And then the path of this ship ran (as agreed with the leadership of the shipping company) to Japan, where the planned ultimate goal of the entire operation was successfully achieved - the purchase of cars.
And how impressive Odessa journalists looked on foreign tours! Also being listed as understudies of the crew members (which allowed them to receive a decent salary in foreign currency at the expense of the shipping company), they not only asked Comrade Pilipenko tricky questions with tenderness, but they themselves answered them extremely intelligently and professionally under the approving nod of the hospitable host.
And what a clever move it was when they began to pay part of the salary to the administrative apparatus of the CMP in foreign currency. Here, even former opponents and envious people were imbued with respect for the leadership.
And now, under the laudatory chorus (after successful business tours) of the most honest and respected part of the population - deputies of all levels, under the voice of the people (honored pensioners), under the approval of fellow managers (demonstration of unity in the shipping company team), a great opportunity arose to plunder the fleet. After all, all the majority mentioned above (at all levels) supported the leaders of the ChMP. And only those who earned money for the shipping company (it was supposed - for the state) - the sailors were not happy. But they were at sea, but the one who was stealing state money was here, nearby, and at the necessary moment could speak in the press, in parliament, wherever it was necessary to support embezzlers who were already openly robbing the country.
Apparently, this state of affairs was indifferent to the Kiev officials. They were told fairy tales at all levels, proving the inexpediency of maintaining the fleet. The fact that the existence of the fleet did not arouse not only any economic interests of those in power (due to their unprofessionalism), but also political ones, is proved by the fact that the Ukrainian fleet sailed for a long time under the flag of a non-existent state - the USSR, and officials were fooled by stories about flag change need to bear big cost. And this ignorant bureaucratic tribe calmly watched that a similar operation - the transition under the national flag - had long been carried out in all other countries of the former USSR - in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia. And for some reason there was enough money! They also fooled illiterate officials with stories that the name of the courts should be written in Russian, despite the fact that there were ships nearby with names in Indian, in Arabic script, with Chinese or Japanese hieroglyphs. After all, how would they know that to identify a vessel, a name is required on English language, and write everything else at least in Nogai!
Realizing the lack of competence of the Kiev officials, sea embezzlers quickly began to create an atmosphere of unprofitability of our shipping companies (and sometimes even bankruptcy). Fewer and fewer of our ships began to call at Ukrainian ports, more and more cargo operations were carried out in the ports of foreign countries (with the excellent condition of our ports), ship repairs were carried out at foreign bases (with the cheap and fairly high-quality work of our ship repair plants), bunkering of ships took place in foreign ports (despite the fact that the cost of fuel at that time was very, very low).
Such an approach in solving transport problems made it possible to shift all monetary transactions (receipt of earned money, expenses for repairs, fuel, maintenance) to foreign banks, depriving Ukraine of control over the operation of its fleet, cash flows and, thus, the possibility of replenishing its treasury, but at the same time, providing the opportunity for a very free launch of thieves' hands into the state pocket.
This is where the gold credit cards of the head of the shipping company, personal green Mercedes and other attributes appeared, so harmoniously fitting into the activities of yesterday's honest and devoted party co-workers, and today - respected and active figures of independent Ukraine.
The process of destruction of the Ukrainian fleet flourished with the transfer of ships to Sovcomflot. There was no limit to the imagination of the crooks! On the one hand, Comrade Pilipenko loudly declared that in each case we would sue over the illegal seizure of our vessels (and our share in Sovcomflot was 17%), and on the other hand, without hesitation (and unnecessary statements) gave a series of bulk carriers , which brought the shipping company about 25% of the profit.
The most elementary and one hundred percent hodoshih in the USSR) passenger ships like "Fyodor Dostoevsky" and "Maxim Gorky" had to explain something to the public. And this was done very simply - cheeks puffed out and it was loudly announced that in this case we would definitely sue our liners from Russia. And they believed it. Since these vessels were chartered by German travel agencies, the naive Germans, believing in the sincerity and decency of the leaders of the Ukrainian fleet, immediately offered the services of their maritime lawyers. But the leadership of the shipping company turned out to be not so simple - after all, there was a real threat that the Germans would really sue. Therefore, these stupid Germans were told that our own lawyers would do everything. And so it turned out. They did everything to ensure that the ships finally left for Russia. And when I (already working in Germany as the chief mechanic of the m / v "Astor" - our former "Fyodor Dostoevsky") listened to this story from German specialists who participated in negotiations with the shipping company, I could not catch what was more in their speech - indignation from the impudence of our crooks or surprise from our stupidity. Although the captains were instructed to go to the ports of Russia, after which the ships acquired a new name, a new flag and a new shipowner.
Of course, when transmitting such well-known (beam with another (as our time shows)), it harmonizes perfectly.
By the arrival of the next head of the shipping company, the general robbery was completed. Of the 360 ships that existed before the arrival of Pilipenko, only 239 remained. The rest (of course, the best) were already taken away without any complications.
The next leapfrog of the heads of this once largest shipping company in the USSR already had the character of sophistication in the theft of money and ships. There were landings in prison, there were dismissals, but only one thing remained a firm line - a decrease in the size of the fleet. At the same time, there was a steady trend towards the emergence of new shipowners in Greece, Cyprus, for some reason rooted in the families and relatives of the former heads of the CMP.
Especially fatty fish began to be caught in the troubled waters of arrests of ships for the debts of the shipping company.
By this time, the whole world already understood that there should be limited liability in business. Regarding the fleet, it looked like the splitting of large companies into a number of small ones (without changing the actual ownership of the vessels, but receiving only other details) that are responsible for any accident or other damage to only one vessel. As a result, a firm of the "Horns and Hooves" type was obtained, when it was possible to arrest only the office tables and imprison the sitz chairman of the Pound.
But representatives of the fifth column were well aware that with such an approach, especially with the destruction of the fleet, you would not turn around, and it was difficult to steal ships. Therefore, until the end, they kept all the ships in one shipping company, quite correctly understanding that for some meager debt of a small tugboat (owned by ChMP), the Taras Shevchenko liner (also owned by ChMP) would be arrested with huge losses, both material and moral - we lose earnings and the authority of the shipowner is undermined by potential charterers - travel agencies.
And how amazingly the process of selling the ships was furnished! As knowledgeable experts said, at that glorious time for two cases of whiskey in Kyiv it was possible to write off any ship, recognizing it as unprofitable.
Thus, the ship "Dmitry Poluyan" was put up for sale abroad (in Malta) at the price of scrap metal. And when one of the potential buyers boarded the ship (this local shipowner thought so naively about himself), after a cursory inspection of the ship, he immediately offered the sum three times more. But not on those he ran into! They told him: “My dear, go to Odessa, talk to such and such an official in the shipping company and agree on everything. And only then will we formalize the sale of the vessel.”
The sophisticated mind of the embezzler found the most unexpected solutions. So, my friend the captain was ferrying a dry cargo ship (such as m / v "Pula") for sale in Greece. It seemed obvious that a well-knurled scheme would work - the ship would be sold for some amount convenient for everyone (except the state), and that would be the end of the matter. But it was not there!
On her last voyage (as part of the Ukrainian fleet), the ship went around all the main ports of the Black Sea. Various kinds of new equipment (spare parts, mechanisms, fittings, devices) were taken from warehouses. And then (already under the cover of customs) it was all legally exported abroad, as spare parts belonging to this ship, and sold. And any amateur will understand that much more money was put into their pocket for such a simple operation than the state received for the ship as a whole.
And what a beautiful, exactly calculated on the incompetence of the capital's boobies (with the material heating of their interest) was the operation for the sale of Lensoviet, Mossovet and Smolny gas carriers. The most expensive ships in the ChMP, which brought fabulous profits, suddenly turned out to be unprofitable. And this is in the presence of ideal conditions for maritime transport: its own cargo manufacturing plant (a chemical plant in the port of Yuzhny), a stable, permanent transport line between Ukraine and the United States (under the auspices of Hammer himself), extremely low crew costs (compared to European ), the minimum cost of repairing ships (since they are produced at the shipyards of the shipping company).
And for the new Greek shipowner, who works in a constant search for cargo, new lines, pays crews at the rates of the International Federation of Trade Unions, pays for repairs at expensive European shipyards, these ships turned out to be profitable then. And one can only imagine the level of their profitability then, if even now, after a decade and a half, they continue to bring income to the owner of about three million dollars a month. And what happened then - during their heyday? And how profitable this operation turned out to be for its participants!
These are the losses that the high professionalism of our crooks and the corruption of incompetent city officials cost the young state.
Of course, with such a powerful destruction of the fleet of the Black Sea Shipping Company, the collapse of the rest of the shipping companies is only a repetition of the past.
The Azov Shipping Company was taken over by the “brothers” of the former head of the motor depot in Donetsk. And for today, everything that is possible has been pumped out.
The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company is in the stage of agony. But it survived the hardest times of the Yugoslav crisis, when, due to the destruction of bridges across the Danube, part of the ships worked in the zone from the bridges and below, and the second - from the bridges and above. And the shipping industry survived. Of course then river boats for our large sharks of the maritime criminal business - a small fish, but, having plundered large ships in the ChMP, they did not disdain the river fleet. And no matter how the president of the UDP PS Suvorov tried to defend the interests of the shipping company (and, of course, the sailors), the destructive forces turned out to be stronger.
And now, with all the talk in parliament about professionalism in management, the shipping company was headed by specialists from the “largest maritime region” of the country - the Luhansk region!
It is clear to us, the specialists of the navy, that the removal of the body has taken place.
And I will remind you about the ships - the pride of the USSR: and The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -
THE VERY FIRST
Let's start with the Odessa steamship, often referred to as the first Russian steamship on the Black Sea. In fact, the first was a small tug Vesuvius built in 1820. In 1823, the Nadezhda steamship built in the possessions of Count Vorontsov began to operate - at first it went from Kherson to Nikolaev, and from July 1827 it switched to the Odessa-Kherson line. In 1825, the first military steamship "Meteor" was built in the Nikolaev Admiralty.
Governor Mikhail Vorontsov wished that Odessa had its own commercial steamship suitable for sailing on the high seas, about which he wrote to Vice Admiral Alexei Greig, commander of the Black Sea Fleet: , and therefore it is necessary to arrange it in such a way that it has, like the English ones, well-finished cabins and room for two or three carriages.
Steamship "Odessa", drawing by E.V. Voishvillo
The contractor, a merchant from Kherson Varshavsky, built the ship for a long time, not even knowing that it would be designed to carry passengers. "Odessa" turned out to be a very small vessel with a length of 37.4 m and a width of 7.5 m. In addition to massive paddle wheels, there was also full sailing equipment. The ship had four first-class cabins, 24 alcoves with beds (some analogue of a compartment) for passengers on the middle deck and space for three dozen passengers on deck. A ticket to Yalta cost, respectively, 60, 40 and 15 rubles.
On July 22, 1828, the steamer went on its maiden voyage. It was accompanied by numerous breakdowns, the ship on the way back got into a strong storm. The steam engine with a capacity of 70 horsepower turned out to be too weak, and the supply of firewood for it was insufficient. As a result, the first journey instead of five days lasted twelve. Already in 1835, the Odessa made its last voyage, having served only seven years. Her steam engine was installed on the new steamship Mithridates. For comparison: many sailing warships of the 17th-19th centuries could remain in service even for a hundred years. Nevertheless, "Odessa" was at the origins of steam shipping on the Black Sea.
ROYAL TIGER"
The next ship, which we will talk about, is connected with Odessa by the fact that at first it fired at it, and then it sank safely off our coast.
Built in 1849, Her Majesty's steam frigate "Tiger", or, as it is customary to transliterate the names of English ships, "Tiger", was first a royal yacht, then a training ship. The newest frigate had a displacement of 1200 tons and a machine with a capacity of 560 horsepower.
Frigate "Tiger"
April 10, 1854 (according to the new style), as part of the Anglo-French squadron "Tiger" took part in the bombardment of Odessa. An unequal battle with the enemy was waged by artillerymen of six coastal batteries. Most of all, four guns installed at the tip of the Practical Pier (together with Androsovsky and Potapovsky covers the Military Harbor, now used for transshipment of pig iron) got the most. Ensign Alexander Shchegolev commanded this battery. He managed to light the French frigate Vauban, but by one o'clock the battery was silent. The enemy tried to land an assault force, which was beaten off by field guns with grapeshot. By 17:00, the shelling of the city was completed, and the squadron went to the Crimea, leaving several ships, including the Tiger, to blockade the coast.
On May 12, 1854 (according to the new style), he sat down on the stones off the coast of the Small Fountain, in the region of modern Arcadia. Under the fire of Russian guns, the frigate caught fire, and the crew, led by captain (captain of the 1st rank) Giffard, surrendered. After that, the ship began to fire at its own - so that the enemy would not get it. As a result, the body of the "Tiger" burned down.
Subsequently, a steam engine and 12 frigate bomb guns were raised from the seabed. The engine was installed on the imperial yacht "Tiger" built in Nikolaev, and in 1904 one of the guns was hoisted on a pedestal near the city council building. So to speak, as a warning to future enemies.
"POPOVKI"
When Russia, after the denunciation of the Peace of Paris in 1856, began to restore the Black Sea Fleet, it included two very original coastal defense battleships built according to the project of Admiral Andrei Popov - Novgorod and Vice Admiral Popov (the only case when a large warship named after its living creator).
These ships, nicknamed "priests", were round in plan - and with a small displacement and draft, they could accommodate two guns of the largest caliber (11 and 12 inches).
Battleships-"priests" in Sevastopol, 1880s, photo archive of the tsushima.su forum
The battleships were supposed to be used to protect the Dnieper-Bug estuary from a possible invasion of the British and Turks. According to a similar project, the imperial yacht Livadia was also built (but it was not round, but oval).
During the Russian-Turkish war, both battleships did not fire a single shot at the enemy, but their constant presence in Odessa completely discouraged the Turks from attacking our city, despite the fact that they had more than a dozen battleships. Thus, the old thesis was confirmed that "fleet in being" (the fleet acts by the very fact of its presence).
In 1877, the "priests" made a "long" trip to the mouth of the Danube, covering the Danube detachment of ships. In 1903, both battleships were decommissioned.
"LITERARY" STEAMBOAT
Kataev’s “Lonely Sail Whitens” is not only the story of the boys Petya and Gavrik, but also a sketch from the everyday life of the unsightly river steamer “Turgenev”, for more than three decades without a change, every day, except Monday, which went between Odessa and Akkerman.
“Quite long, but narrow, with two wheels, the red blades of which were visible in the slots of the round casing, with two pipes ... it looked more like a big boat than a small steamer,” Valentin Kataev describes the ship.
"Turgenev" in the Dniester Estuary
In the absence of a normal dry route between Odessa and Akkerman at that time, it was possible to get from one city to another only by boat. A first class ticket cost a ruble and a quarter, a second class ticket cost 1 ruble, a third class ticket cost 65 kopecks. The steamer Vasiliev competed fiercely with the Turgenev, which is why the cost of tickets did not increase, but, on the contrary, sometimes even decreased - at one time the third class cost some 15 kopecks.
In addition to Kataev, writers Lev Nikulin and Konstantin Paustovsky mentioned Turgenev in their works. So, the steamboat can be safely called "literary".
THE UNCONQUERED TERRITORY OF THE REVOLUTION
Known to the whole world, thanks to the classic film directed by Sergei Eisenstein, the squadron battleship "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky" was built in 1905.
It was this newest and one of the most powerful ship in its class that became the "unconquered territory" of the first Russian revolution. The uprising on the Potemkin, although it ended in the defeat of the rebels, without exaggeration, shook the foundations of the autocracy. Well, of course, it left its mark on the history of the City. By the way, the direct losses inflicted on Odessa by the June epic are estimated at 2.5 million rubles, which was equal to half of the then city budget.
"Potemkin" in Constanta under the flag of Romania, photo from the archive of Yuri Chernov, www.tsushima.su
After the uprising, the battleship was renamed "Panteleimon". The ship actively participated in the First World War. It was his well-aimed volleys in the battle near the Bosphorus on May 10, 1915 that forced the German battlecruiser Goeben to retreat, which had kept the Russian admirals in suspense for a long time. In 1917, the ship was returned to its original name, but without a princely title, then they managed to rename it the Freedom Fighter. The battleship ended its fate ingloriously - it, which was standing in Sevastopol with blown up cars, was dismantled for metal.
By the way, according to the same, albeit revised, project as the Potemkin, the battleships Eustathius, John Chrysostom and Retvisan were built, which died in the besieged Port Arthur, and then raised by the Japanese. On the basis of the Retvizan, the Americans have already built more than a dozen battleships for their fleet.
ominous "diamond"
The cruiser Almaz played a key role in the short history of the Odessa Soviet Republic in 1918. Revolutionary-minded sailors and, most importantly, the guns of the ship helped the Bolsheviks win the three-day January "war" that unfolded on the streets of Odessa.
After the victory of Soviet power in Odessa, the “Naval Military Tribunal” was placed on board the Almaz, where captured officers were brought to “trial”. As the liberal and monarchist-minded Odessa press later claimed, the unfortunate were burned in ship ovens or taken out naked to the deck, where they poured water over them until they turned into blocks of ice. This gloomy story is reflected in one of the versions of the revolutionary song "Yablochko":
"Oh, apple
Where are you cat?
You will get to "Diamond"
- don't come back.
However, there were also heroic pages in the biography of Almaz. So, in the Russian-Japanese, he was the only one of the large ships of the Second Pacific Squadron who managed to independently reach Vladivostok after the Tsushima battle. The rest of the ships died, surrendered to the Japanese or left for the Philippines.
During the World War Almaz was the first aircraft carrier of the Russian fleet - four seaplanes were placed on its deck. The cruiser, together with the Panteleimon (Potemkin), participated in the glorious bombardment of the Bosphorus.
During the years of the Civil "Diamond" did not stay Soviet for long. In the end, he was captured by the White Guards, who took the ship to Bizerte. In 1924, it was recognized as the property of the USSR, and in 1934 it was dismantled for scrap in France.
BLACK SEA "TITANIC"
One of the darkest episodes in the maritime history of Odessa is associated with the death in 1941 of the passenger-and-freight ship "Lenin". The ship was built in 1909 in Germany. Before the revolution, it was called "Simbirsk". The ship transported people and cargo between the ports of the Russian Far East, China, Korea and Japan. Since 1925, he has already sailed on the Black Sea, making flights between Odessa and Novorossiysk.
Steamboat "Lenin", www.wreckdiver.ru
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the ship was mobilized to take out the evacuees from Odessa. In your last hike he left on July 24, having on board, according to various sources, from 4000 to 5200 people.
During the transition, "Lenin" was stuck in Sevastopol for more than a day. On the evening of July 27, the ship headed for Yalta as part of a convoy. At 23:33, an explosion occurred under the starboard side of the Lenin. The old steamer sank in 10 minutes. Only two boats were launched from it. Other ships and ships of the convoy picked up about six hundred people from the surface of the water. The rest died.
As it turned out later, "Lenin" was blown up by a Soviet mine (some historians suggest that a Romanian or German submarine could sink it, but this hypothesis has not been confirmed by anything). The tribunal, which examined the circumstances of the death of the ship, found the pilots, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Shtepenko and Lieutenant Ivan Svistun, guilty of the incident. The officers did not admit their guilt, but the court was inexorable. Shtepenko was sentenced to 8 years in prison after the war and sent to a penal battalion, and Svistun was shot. In 1992, the military tribunal of the Black Sea Fleet reconsidered the Svistun case, stated that there was no corpus delicti in the actions of the officers and overturned the verdict.
As for "Lenin", they did not raise it. Now it lies at a depth of 97 meters, two and a half miles from the coast, not far from Cape Sarych and the presidential dacha Zarya. In 2010, the ship was examined by the Sophocles remote-controlled underwater vehicle by the staff of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Navigation bridge "Lenin"
They stated that the ship had been plundered by their "black" colleagues. Underwater marauders stole the steering wheel and navigational equipment.
DANUBE DREADNOUT
Monitor - low-sided, armored and armed with strong artillery river or coastal warship. In 1940, when the Soviet Union reached the banks of the Danube, a powerful military flotilla was formed there, the core of which was five monitors. The most famous of them was Zheleznyakov.
"Zheleznyakov" on a pedestal in Kyiv, photographic.com.ua
At the beginning of the war, the monitor participated in operations on the Danube - it provided artillery support to landings on the right bank near Kiliya-Veke and Cape Satul-Nou, which is opposite Izmail. On July 19, 1941, the flotilla left the Danube. "Zheleznyakov" fought near Ochakov, then went to the Sea of Azov. In August 1942, the monitor broke through Kerch Strait, both banks of which were occupied by the Germans. In August 1944, Zheleznyakov headed the recreated Danube Flotilla, where for some time he was the only large ship. The monitor ended the war near Vienna, in the very center of Europe. And since 1967, restored by the workers of the Lenin Forge plant, it has been standing in Kyiv as a monument.
THE LAST OF "PIKE"
One of the famous submarines of the tenth series of the Shch (Pike) project, number 209, turned out to be a real long-liver. Launched in 1936, the submarine made 18 military campaigns during the war, the last to leave the besieged Sevastopol in July 1942, sank a German landing barge and a Turkish sailing-motor schooner Semsi-Bakhri. For combat achievements March 6, 1945 Shch-209 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Shch-209 and the cruiser "Comintern", photo "Wikipedia"
In 1956, the obsolete submarine was withdrawn from the fleet and sent to an eternal parking lot in the Odessa Practical Harbor, where it was converted into a battery charging station for submarines of the 131st conservation division. When a unit left Odessa at the dawn of Ukrainian independence, the Red Banner ship was simply forgotten. In 1996, he quietly sank right at the pier, along with another boat, a more modern S-243.
In 1997, the sonars of the ships of the North Atlantic Alliance, which arrived in Odessa for the Sea Breeze exercises, detected a submarine of an unknown type right in the Practical Harbor. The frightened guests flatly refused to enter the water area of the base and moored at the sea station, demanding explanations from their Ukrainian colleagues. An unknown underwater object was examined by divers who discovered that it was the forgotten "Pike". The Americans breathed a sigh of relief and the maneuvers resumed.
"Pike" being taken to Ochakov in tow, photo by Igor Opruzhak, Marine Collection magazine
A couple of years later, the boat was raised and towed to Ochakov. The military thought about restoring it, turning it into a museum, but greed won out, and the Pike was handed over for scrap.
TWO "DANUBE"
After the war, the Soviet fleet was replenished with two captured ships, which at different times bore the same name "Danube".
The first of these is the luxurious training sailboat Cristoforo Colombo, built in Italy in the 1920s. according to the project of a sailing ship of the line of the middle of the 19th century. The second ship of the same type is the Amerigo Vespucci, well-known to the inhabitants of Odessa, which periodically looks into our port.
In the Soviet Union "Cristoforo Colombo" became "Danube". Until 1963, he went with students of the Water Institute on training voyages in the Black Sea. In 1963, a strong fire broke out on board, after which the sailboat was decommissioned, and it remained at the berths of the Odessa port for a long time. In 1971, it was dismantled for scrap.
Sailboat "Danube" under the Soviet flag, photo from the collection of Nikolai Alpatov, www.macroclub.ru
The second "Danube" is called the "grandfather of the Ukrainian fleet": today it is the oldest warship in Ukraine. And they launched it on July 2, 1942 in the Austrian Linz (Third Reich) as a civilian tugboat. September 21, 1942 The future "Danube" was mobilized and introduced under the name "Grafenau" into the 3rd minesweeper brigade of the Danube Flotilla of the Kriegsmarine. The Germans used it mainly in escort operations. According to some reports, Grafenau destroyed one of the M-type (Baby) submarines of the USSR Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea. True, domestic historians deny this.
On August 31, 1944, after the withdrawal of Bulgaria from the war, the German crew sank the ship (it was based on the Danube port of Svishtov). A month later, Soviet sailors raised it, turning it into a minesweeper. The ship did not receive a name - only the number T-670.
Training ship "Danube" in the Soviet Navy called SSV-10
After the war, the future "Danube" was rebuilt several times, changed owners and purpose. From a minesweeper, it turned into a POK-76 messenger boat, then worked as an RMB-49 raid motorboat, was the headquarters ship of the Prut Danube flotilla, a PS-10 messenger ship, a communications ship of the 16th Red Banner brigade of river ships SSV-10, until was not enlisted as a headquarters ship, first in the Ukrainian Navy, and then in the Izmail detachment of the State Border Guard Service as "Danube". In 2010, he was written off.
At the end of December 2011, it became known that the Danube was being transferred to the Izmail Naval Lyceum. But in September 2012, it turned out that these plans remained on paper, and the border guards were selling "grandfather" for scrap.
A scandal broke out in the press, and the sale of the veteran ship was stopped. Now "Danube" is located in Izmail.
"SLAVA" WHALE
Another famous Odessa ship - the whaling mother ship "Slava" - is also a trophy. It was built in 1929 in England by order of one of the Norwegian companies. In 1938, the Vikingen (as the ship was then called) was acquired by Germany. After World War II, the whaler managed to go to Antarctica twice under the British flag.
The ship was handed over to the USSR in 1946. In November of this year, the whale base with 15 whalers on board, renamed "Slava", set off on its first voyage to the Antarctic Circle.
According to the long-term captain-director of the Slava flotilla Alexei Solyanik, each trip to Antarctica brought the country up to 80 million rubles in profit!
From 1946 to 1959 Slava made 17 flights. Each of her return to Odessa was celebrated by the city as a holiday. The moorings of the old seaport were filled with a huge crowd of people who met the whalers.
Odessans meet the whaling flotilla "Glory". On the right in the round inset is a portrait of A. Solyanik, www.fleetphoto.ru
Since 1960 Slava has worked for Far East, giving way to a new flotilla in Odessa - "Soviet Ukraine". In 1971, Glory was sold to Japan for scrapping.
Soviet whaling fleets in the post-war period are a special phenomenon of Russian maritime history. They were even named after battleships and armadillos: Slava, Soviet Russia, Soviet Ukraine, and even Yuri Dolgoruky. Whalers were considered the elite of the merchant and fishing fleet, and harpooners were considered the elite of the elites. By the way, the whale bases had a dual purpose. In case of war, they were planned to be used as anti-submarine ships.
In general, the history of Soviet whaling ended much later than in other countries - in 1987.
"FRIENDSHIP" SAILS AND BERTH
"Druzhba" is a training sailboat built in Poland in 1987 as a very successful ship "Gift of Youth" especially for the Odessa "navigator". Alas, the golden age of the frigate ended rather quickly - with the collapse of the USSR. For the past few years, it has been laid up in Practical Harbor and is rusting.
The well-known Odessa yachtsman Natan Gonopolsky said best of all what “Friendship” means for Odessa and Ukraine: “Druzhba” is the most complex sailing vessel, very expensive to operate and does not bring direct commercial profit. This is on the one hand. But on the other hand, today it is just one ship, which could well be supported by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education and Sports (or whatever these departments are called now). Real men, professional sailors, worthy citizens of a worthy country are brought up on such ships. Cadets and cadets of all educational institutions of the maritime profile, merchant and navy should have practiced at Druzhba, foreign delegations of all levels could be received at Druzhba, Druzhba could become one of the symbols of naval pride Powers Ukraine. Could... But for this "Friendship" must live. And for a ship to live means only one thing - to go to sea.
"Friendship" in the Practical harbor, photo by A. Velmozhko
Now the frigate may have a chance - it was proposed to make it a branch of the revived maritime museum and a pleasure ship.
FIRE-FIRELESS "LESOZAVODSK"
Another attraction of the Military Harbor is the cargo ship Lesozavodsk. Now it is used as a training center, sailors work out actions on board in various emergency situations: in case of fires, accidents, floods. Sometimes real emergencies happen at Lesozavodsk, but so far, fortunately, none has led to serious consequences. The old ship, which has long been unable to move independently (its main engine has been dismantled), has repeatedly become a film set. For example, scenes for the Italian film "The Legend of the Pianist" ("Legend of the 1900th") were filmed here.
Lesozavodsk, photo by A. Velmozhko
Lesozavodsk was built in 1960 at the Gdansk shipyard named after Lenin. As part of the Black Sea Shipping Company, the ship served trade lines, and during the Caribbean crisis several times went to Cuba, delivering military cargo and even military personnel there. The officers were placed in cabins, the soldiers - in the holds, where they installed multi-tiered bunks. Odessa sailors tell a lot of interesting things about these voyages.
For example, according to them, the main problem of "Lesozavodsk" was that regular latrines could not satisfy the increased demand for their services. Therefore, a wooden latrine was equipped for the soldiers in the poop (aft). Feces were dumped overboard. So, I once met another Soviet ship in the Atlantic. The captain of the latter asks the captain of Lesozavodsk: “What are you carrying?” He replies that this way and that, they say, I'm taking metal structures to Havana. “You're lying,” his interlocutor laughs. You have soldiers. Odessite in a panic: this is secret data. "How did you find out?" - "And you look behind the stern." The captain looks and sees that the entire board in the area of \u200b\u200bthe soldiers' toilet is covered with a thick crust of known origin, unmasking the presence of extra "passengers".
"BUREVESTNIK" OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
The third interesting inhabitant of the Practical Harbor is the boat "Petrel", on which - and this is documented - the Secretary General of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev liked to ride. The ship was built in 1964 as a communications boat. Subsequently, it was converted to transport VIPs.
According to military historian Viktor Tomin, the Burevestnik had outstanding technical characteristics for those times. For example, two "star" diesel engines of 4 thousand horsepower each allowed him to reach a speed of 37 knots (almost 70 kilometers per hour)! The hull of the boat is made of three-layer wood. One of the most reliable radio stations "Raid-1" was installed on the ship.
Burevestnik, photo by A. Velmozhko
In 1995, an Odessa businessman bought the boat, but he could not return it to working condition and was forced to resell it. Since then, the memorial ship has been laid up in the harbor. According to rumors, a certain SBU officer now owns it.
TWICE DRONKED
Well, we will complete our selection with the history of the Admiral Nakhimov steamship, tragic death which shocked the Soviet Union. The ship was built in 1925 in Germany. The first name is "Berlin". Until 1939, he made regular flights across the Atlantic, with the beginning of World War II, he was used as a floating hospital. In January 1945, she suffered a torpedo attack by Soviet boats, and then hit a mine and sank. Was handed over to the Soviet Union as reparations. The ship was raised in 1947.
The ship, renamed in honor of the naval commander, made cruise voyages along the Crimean-Caucasian line between the ports of Odessa, Yalta, Novorossiysk, Sochi, Sukhumi, Batumi, several times went to Cuba and Africa.
On the night of August 31 to September 1, 1986, the ship left Novorossiysk for Sochi. There were 1234 people on board, including 888 passengers and 346 crew members. At 23:12 Moscow time, at the exit from the Tsemess Bay, he collided with the dry cargo ship "Pyotr Vasev", which was entering the port. For 423 people, including 23 children, the Admiral Nakhimov lying at the bottom became a mass grave.
The captains of the Nakhimov and Vasev, Vadim Markov and Viktor Tkachenko, were found guilty of the incident. The court sentenced everyone to 15 years in prison, but after the collapse of the Sailors' Union, they were pardoned and released.
Markov remained to live in Odessa. He worked in the ChMP as a captain-mentor on passenger ships. Passed away May 31, 2007. Victor Tkachenko, taking the name of his wife Talyor, emigrated to Israel. In September 2003, the wreckage of a yacht and several corpses were found off the coast of Newfoundland. One of the dead was Victor Talyor (Tkachenko), the captain of the ship. He is buried in Tel Aviv.
By the way, the cargo ship that caused the tragedy is still floating. It is called "Jiajiaxin 1", the flag is Panama. And the call sign "Nakhimova" was transferred to the dry cargo ship "Tavria-7", which crashed off the coast of Bulgaria in 1992.
Page 6 of 7
Four German liners, which also went to the USSR as reparations from Nazi Germany, became a remarkable replenishment of the passenger Black Sea Shipping Company. First to the Black Sea arrived liner "Victory", which already on April 15, 1947, left Odessa on its first flight to the Crimea-Caucasus line.
The history of this liner began back in 1928 at a shipyard in Danzig. The ship received its first name - "Rio Magdalena". The entry into operation of the liner took place on December 14, 1928, and already on December 29, Magdalena set off on her maiden voyage from Hamburg to the West Indies. The vessel was painted in Harag's traditional colors - black hull and white superstructures. For solidity, the liner had two smokers, but during the overhaul in Hamburg they were replaced with one wide pipe. The total (gross) tonnage of the vessel was 9779 GRT, The hull length reached 148.1 m, width - 18.5 m, draft - 10.5 m. Two Shihau eight-cylinder diesel engines had a total power of 6800 hp. and provided a full speed of 15 knots, working on two four-bladed propellers. The overhaul and re-equipment lasted from May 28, 1934 to February 1935, and the liner was named "Iberia" after the repair. The ship could take on board 123 passengers of the 1st class, 102 - of the 2nd class, 106 - of the 3rd class. The crew of the ship was 177 people.
second world war the liner spent in Gotenhafeni (Kiel), was used by the Kriegsmarine as a base ship for German submarines. The USSR liner was transferred for reparation on February 18, 1946 and moved to the Black Sea under its own power. The ship received a new name - "Victory". In September 1948, after leaving Batumi, a fire broke out on the ship with numerous casualties, and Chinese Marshal Feng Yu Xiang and his family were killed. All forty dead passengers and two crew members were buried at the memorial of the 2nd Odessa Christian cemetery. The coffin with the body of Marshal Feng Yu Xiang was sent by plane to Moscow, where he was cremated. After the accident, the ship was repaired in Wismar (Germany) until 1950, after which the updated Pobeda returned to the Black Sea, to its native Crimean-Caucasian line. Demoted and deprived of visas, sailors called the Crimean-Kalymskaya line. And ordinary passengers simply adored the trip from Odessa to Batumi and back. For some little money, they plunged into another world - travel and adventures, southern nights and love adventures. Even if you were completely broke, you could buy a deck ticket, one night on a sun lounger on deck, if you didn’t have enough charm to get better, and you are already in Yalta, or one more night - and you are in Sochi ... The Pobeda had the most beautiful, among passenger ships, a two-story, mahogany-lined restaurant.
And also "Victory" was filmed in a feature film. Together with the ship "Russia" she starred in the comedy by Leonid Gaidai - "The Diamond Arm" as a passenger ship "Mikhail Svetlov", bound for a cruise on the route Leningrad - Odessa - Leningrad, with a stop in Istanbul. It is on the deck of the Victory that Andrei Mironov sings a song about the Island of Bad Luck. The liner was operated until 1977, and then was sold abroad for scrap.
Motor ship "Russia" was considered the flagship of the passenger fleet of the Black Sea Shipping Company. All Odessans of the older generation remember the famous liner. The diesel-electric ship was built in Hamburg (Germany). The ship was launched on January 15, 1938 and it received the name "Patria". Patria was the largest diesel-electric passenger ship in the world at the time.
On August 27, 1938, the liner entered its first regular flight from Hamburg through the Panama Canal to west coast South America. With the beginning of the Second World War, "Patria" moved to Stettin, where it was until 1942, as a floating barracks. Then the ship was transferred to the parking lot in the port of Flensburg, where it continued to be used as a floating base for the Navy. After the death of Hitler, in the first days of May 1945, the German imperial government, headed by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, was stationed on the liner. Then the British liked the liner, underwent repairs at the Belfast shipyard and, under the name "Empire Welland", was used for military transportation. In February 1946, the liner was reparated to the Soviet Union and in the same year under the new name "Russia" made a flight from Liverpool to New York.
Since 1948, "Russia" has been on the Crimean-Caucasian line. The liner had a total capacity of 16,595 GRT.
Hull length - 182.2 m, width - 22.5 m, draft - 11.1 m. The propulsion system of the ship consisted of: six MAN diesel engines (five 8-cylinder and one 6-cylinder), six diesel generators and two electric motors. general power power plant reached 15,000 hp and full speed - 17 knots.
The liner took on board up to 730 passengers (since 1969 - 792), incl. 185 first class and luxury. The number of crew and maintenance personnel reached 240-260 people.
The diesel-electric ship "Rossiya" was very popular with vacationers and often took on board an additional 200 - 250 (and, if necessary, up to 500) "deck" passengers who spent the night in sun loungers on the promenade decks, not having their own cabin places. Such passengers handed over things to the lockers.
In addition to cruise and line flights, Odessans, and not only, are very fond of 2-3-day walks Odessa - Yalta, Odessa - Sevastopol. Over time, the venerable liner already looked old-fashioned, against the backdrop of younger ships built in the 1960s - 1980s, but still somehow unusual, grandiose and very majestic. "Rossiya" sailed without accident until the end of 1984, was decommissioned, and in 1985 was sold for scrap to Japan.
History
How did the history of the Black Sea Shipping Company begin? Steamboats sailed along the Black Sea until 1833. They were used primarily not for the transport of passengers, but for the delivery of mail, so in 1831 the Neva steamer opened navigation between Odessa and Constantinople. This flight sent 107 letters, distributed in Constantinople "no money".
On May 16, 1833, a joint-stock company was established Black Sea Society of Steamboats to establish "permanent relations" between Russia and Ottoman Empire.
The article of the Doctor of Historical Sciences E. Kudryavtseva “Postal communication Constantinople - St. Petersburg in the first half of the 19th century” states: “... In the “Project on the Establishment of the Society”, it was assumed that the Black Sea Fleet would have 3 steamships - 2 for postal transportation and one for towing ships to the Bosphorus." The society was approved for a period of 10 years, but problems arose much earlier. Already in 1838, only one steamer remained to transport mail, it decided that four steamships with a capacity of at least 250 hp each should be ordered. so that in wartime they can be turned into useful use in the navy.
So important was the delivery of mail in 1833 by the Constantinople mail. It was due to the fact that in that very year the Russian Black Sea squadron was stationed in Constantinople, which came to the aid of the shaken power of the then Turkish Sultan.
In England, the most modern, for that period, steamers were ordered. The names of these ships are “painfully familiar”: “ODESSA”, “CRIMEA”, “KHERSONESS”, and later they were joined by “BESSARABIA”, “GROMONOSETS” and “VLADIMIR”.
These are the famous steamship-frigates that fought heroically in the Crimean War and were sunk by crews on the Sevastopol roadstead in August 1855.
After the war, only eight steamships remained in the fleet.
After the end of the Crimean War, the activities of the Black Sea Steamship Society did not resume.
Established with state money, the Black Sea Society of Steamships, which included militarized ships that became high-speed ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the first days of the war, could by no means "...satisfy the economic needs of the vast southern region ...".
Already in 1856, the first large shipping company on the Black Sea was organized - the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPiT). At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, shipping companies in the empire appeared and disappeared, but there was a clip of super shipping companies, and of them actively worked in the south: ROPiT, Dobroflot, Azov-Black Sea Shipping Association, Batum-Tuapse Railway, Rostrans, Russian-Danube Shipping Company, Trade and Commission Partnership "Sosiete" and others. Any self-respecting shipowner had his own representative office, department or office in Odessa, and the port of Odessa became the base for hundreds of ships.
With the outbreak of the First World War, mobilization was carried out, during which this entire armada became combat transports, minesweepers, and messenger ships.
In the Black Sea-Azov basin, after the end of the civil war, there were 49 transport ships suitable for operation. After establishing final control over the coast, the Soviet government began to restore the shipping company.
On June 13, 1922, the Council of Labor and Defense of the republic established the state shipping companies Baltic, Northern, Black Sea-Azov and Caspian in the system of the People's Commissariat of Railways, and entrusted the general management of their activities to the Central Board of the State Trade Fleet.
Again ChMP was created by the end of 1922 as the Black Sea-Azov Shipping Company. After the Great Patriotic War, due to the increase in traffic volumes, the Black Sea, Azov and Georgian shipping companies were created on its basis.
The story of the participation of sailors and their ships in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the fascist invaders in the Black Sea-Azov basin was of a heroic nature.
In 1993, by decree of the President of Ukraine, the joint-stock shipping concern "Blasko" was established. The head of which was appointed Vinnitsky Alexander.
In 2008, the Black Sea Shipping Company celebrated its 175th anniversary. The intervention of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Transport and Communications prevented the sale of the last liquid assets of the Black Sea Shipping Company.
On December 23, the Supreme Economic Court decided to send for reconsideration to the court of first instance (Hozsud of the Odessa region) seven cases on the sale of the most liquid CMP real estate at a lower cost.
As Kommentarii weekly reported last week, as early as December 2008, CMP signed several agreements, the essence of which was 10/29/2009 "Rescue" of CMP was postponed for half a year04/01/2008 "Black Sea Shipping Company" should be liquidated - V. Rabotnev completion of reorganization, it is planned to withdraw the most liquid assets from CMP - Ukrmorrechflot 09/05/2008CHMP: another attempt at "additional privatization" 11/04/2008 shipping companies, and in return they were supposed to receive his property. Thus, ChMP transferred to Transbud-SU 5 LLC and Gallery Development LLC its debt to Ukrtanker Shipping Company CJSC in the amount of UAH 6.4 and 8.2 million. respectively. At the same time, the parties agreed that in return, "Gallery Development" will issue control over one of the most tidbits of the state-owned company - the inter-flight base of CMP sailors, with an area of more than 13 hectares, which is located in Odessa on the street. Varlamov, 30 (District of Arcadia). In turn, "Transbud-SU 5" receives ownership of the administrative building of the ChMP in the center of Odessa on the street. Deribasovskaya, 4 with a total area of 4.6 thousand square meters. m.
According to a similar scheme, CMP ceded to Trans Oil Logistic LLC warehouse complex No. 1 (Odessa, Nalivnaya St., 2-A), which consists of an administrative building, workshops, warehouses with a total area of 16.2 thousand square meters. m. In favor of this company, non-residential buildings in Odessa on the streets of Primorskaya, 3 (2.8 thousand square meters) and Zhukovsky, 11 / Polskaya, 20 (more than 2.5 thousand square meters) also departed. Trans Oil Logistics received these assets for undertaking to repay only UAH 7.5 million. CMP's debts to Castrol Marine Oil GmbH. By the way, the same creditor appeared in the agreement between the shipping company and the state of emergency "Medinpharm", which, in repayment of 3 million hryvnia. debt to Castrol, got an administrative and storage facility in Odessa on the street. Seaside, 11/13.
No less attractive assets went to LLC "Indochina": Odessa cafes "Golfstream", the Black Sea yacht club and the Black Sea yacht club ChMP, in exchange for the repayment of 2.8 million hryvnia. the shipping company's debts to Castrol Marine. Transbud-Avto LLC and Ukrzdravnitsa LLC followed the same path, for a little more than 2 million hryvnias. debts CMP received ownership of its fleet (boxes, warehouses, office buildings), as well as the Odessa boarding house of fleet veterans.
But in July 2009, CMP refused to transfer these assets, which gave grounds for these companies to go to court demanding recognition of their ownership rights. And three weeks later, the Economic Court of the Odessa region in two stages (August 3 and 7) issued seven decisions by which these claims were satisfied. In turn, CMP challenged these decisions in the Supreme Economic Court. On November 30, the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine accepted the shipping company's appeals and scheduled their consideration for December 23.
On the eve of the meeting of the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine, there were concerns about a positive result for the CMP. Firstly, why didn't the CHMP appeal to the regional economic court of appeal in accordance with the prescribed procedure? And secondly, it looked rather strange that the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine appointed the consideration of seven such serious cases on one day, in one hall (No. 326), by one panel of judges. Moreover, five minutes were scheduled for consideration of each case, starting from 10.15 to 10.45. As a source in the Ministry of Transport and Communications told tbu.com.ua, on the eve of the meeting there was a threat that the court could thus legalize this sale.
But the participation in the court session of representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Transport and Communications has so far made it possible to make a decision in favor of the ChMP. The Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine referred these cases for reconsideration to the court of first instance, i.e. Economic court of Odessa region.
True, it is worth noting that the August decisions of the regional court clearly contradict another decision of this judicial body. Recall that since February 2006 the ChMP has been in the process of sanitation, and in August 2008 the sanitation plan was approved by the Economic Court of the Odessa region. At the same time, the court appointed Vladimir Shnyakin as the manager of the reorganization, instead of the ex-president of the ChMP Evgeny Kogevin, who was appointed to this position back in 2004 by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Moreover, the reorganization procedure involves paying off creditors by selling at auction the objects provided for by the reorganization plan. But not through the assignment of debts, which even the Ministry of Transport and Communications learned about three days before the aforementioned meeting of the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine.
By the way, in terms of reorganization, a different value of the real estate objects in question is determined. Thus, in terms of reorganization, the Inter-flight base of sailors was estimated at 347.3 million hryvnias, and with the assignment of debt at 8.2 million hryvnias. Boarding house for fleet veterans at a cost of 9.8 million hryvnias in terms of sanitation. had to leave for UAH 89.9 thousand. The car fleet of the ChMP, at a cost of 3.3 million hryvnias, they wanted to give for 2.1 million hryvnias. The administrative building at 4, Deribasovskaya Street, with a plan cost of UAH 26.7 million, could have gone for UAH 6.5 million. At the same time, the confirmed debt of CMP to creditors is about UAH 36 million. And at the beginning of 2008, the creditors were ready to give up their claims, in case of receiving only one object - a four-story building at 4 Deribasovskaya Street.
In addition, as we have already reported, V. Shnyakin made two attempts to sell ChMP facilities in November 2008 and September 2009, but in violation of the procedure for holding such auctions. In particular, with regard to the last attempt at the end of September, the Black Sea Transport Prosecutor's Office filed a protest against "illegal actions to organize an auction for the sale of the property of the GSK ChMP."
The reason for the protest of the prosecutor's office was the announcement of the auction, published on August 21, 2009 in the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine. At the same time, the announcement does not indicate the names of the objects for sale, their location, starting cost, conditions of sale and operation, the amount that buyers must pay in the amount of 10% of the initial cost of the object, the time and place of personal acquaintance with the object, the place of the auction. On September 16, V. Shnyakin also drew the attention of V. Shnyakin to these violations of the procedure by the regional branch of the State Property Fund in the Odessa region. Thus, the requirements of Article 15 of the law "On the privatization of small state-owned enterprises (small privatization)" were violated. In addition, in violation of the law, the sale was not agreed with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and at the time of the filing of the protest by the prosecutor's office, an expert assessment of the ChMP's property was not carried out.
V. Shnyakin made a similar attempt to sell assets on November 24, 2008, when he placed an advertisement in the Odessa newspaper Obyava about holding an auction on December 26. Moreover, a significant part of the real estate offered for sale was not provided for by the rehabilitation plan.
As you can see, the situation is brought to the point of absurdity. After all, CMP has every opportunity to repay such an insignificant debt. But in violation of the law, the sanation procedure has been going on for two years longer than the stipulated time. In addition, the question arises why the State Property Fund has not yet conducted an expert assessment of the real value of the property of the CMP, so as not to give further reasons for dubious assignments of debts.
As stated in an open letter from veterans of the Black Sea Shipping Company to the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn and leaders of parliamentary factions, veterans of the Black Sea Shipping Company appeal to the mentioned persons in order to “put an end to the looting and destruction of the state shipping company ChMP. and appointed by the first president of independent Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk Kudyukin P.V. - the collapse of the CHMP began. During the presidency of Kravchuk and Kuchma, the main collapse of the “CHMP” took place and none of them was held accountable, and yet they are the guarantors of the constitution and must protect state property, the people gave them such rights, ”the veterans say. As the letter says, until 2008 nine presidents of the company were replaced, and the last president, Evgeny Kogevin, “did a lot to protect the state property of the company: he revealed schemes for the illegal sale of ships, far-fetched debts of the shipping company, for which in 2006 they tried to remove him from the management of the company, but, by that time, the government did not allow do it.” “However, on February 26, 2008, there was a raider (you can't call it otherwise – ed.) takeover of the company. At the time when the president of the company went to the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine for a report, he was arrested at the railway station in Kyiv and at the same time they seized the management of the company, "ChMP veterans say." ChMP" for more than 3 years and there were no claims against him, and suddenly a criminal case arose in order to remove him from the management of the company and sell the remnants of the company's property for nothing and finally destroy the GSK, the most big company in the world, which gave a net profit to the state budget of more than a billion dollars a year,” they note. (now the Odessa National Maritime Academy) is equipped with modern simulators, a large number of top-class specialists have been trained, significant funds have been received in the city budget, and so on,” the letter emphasizes, the authors of which believe that the company’s bankruptcy is currently “created artificially and reflects corruption in the highest echelons of power to enrich their own pockets and destroy the fleet of Ukraine.” “The Azov Shipping Company has already been destroyed and the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company is being artificially destroyed. Ship repair enterprises are downsizing, dockers and ship repairers are losing their jobs. Our shipyards do not build vessels for the Ukrainian fleet. Our marine educational establishments prepare specialists for shipowners of other states, and not for their native Ukraine. Our seafarers, who are forced to work for foreign shipowners, do not have work experience in Ukraine, which affects the calculation of pensions. There is no state program for the development of the navy in Ukraine, as a maritime power, and the destruction of the HSC "CHMP" is a spit in the souls of those veterans and sailors who invested their labor in the development of the fleet, the training of highly qualified specialists," the letter emphasizes. "Many veterans they need medicines and medical care, as they receive meager pensions from 600 to 800 hryvnias for their entire working life. Previously, we, veterans, were provided with all possible assistance by the GSK "ChMP", now - sympathetic maritime organizations. Veterans with pain in their hearts learn that the Palace of Culture of Sailors and the Inter-Cruise Base of Sailors, as well as other property of the ChMP, have already been put up for sale, and after all, when creating the Inter-Cruise Base of Sailors, many veterans put it in order, repaired it, and now some thief, otherwise it won’t if you name it, for far-fetched debts, you will get what the veterans created for free,” the letter says. And what did you do, Madam Prime Minister, when, in your premiership, in our opinion, with your direct order from the Minister of Transport, Joseph Vinsky, the bankruptcy of the company began for its final destruction? We are ashamed of you, Volodymyr Mikhailovich (Vladimir Lytvyn, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada) that you, as Chairman of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, did not react to what was happening with GSK ChMP, the company's veterans emphasize. From the day of Ukraine's independence, according to the authors letters, the personnel policy of the industry of the Ministry of Transport does not stand up to any criticism - the ministers appoint people who have neither experience in transport nor sufficient qualifications, and the maritime industry is run by people who are simply incompetent. that we will be supported by veterans of the Azov Shipping Company and the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company), we appeal to you, as the leaders of the country, the deputies whom we have elected, with a request to show your courage and conscience, to immediately adopt a law on stopping the bankruptcy of GSK ChMP, returning property, which have already been sold, the return of Yevgeny Kogevin to the post of president of the ChMP, to assist in the development of the GSK ChMP, to appoint to the competitive again with the participation and recommendations of the associations of captains and mechanics of the Black Sea basin for senior positions in the maritime industry worthy specialists. We propose to create a “Rescue Fund of the GSK “CHMP” and appeal to all seafarers of Ukraine, shipowners of shipping companies, crewing companies, ports of Ukraine, the trade union of seafarers and ordinary citizens of Ukraine with a request to make their feasible contribution to settle accounts with creditors. Our sailors must work in the national fleet of Ukraine and be protected, and not be held captive by pirates. We hope for your decency, honor and conscience in protecting GSK "ChMP" and the maritime industry of Ukraine, for God himself gave Ukraine access to the sea, making it a maritime power, "says the letter sent to the first officials of the country on behalf of the meeting of veterans" Black Sea Shipping Company" The intervention of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Transport and Communications prevented the sale of the last liquid assets of the Black Sea Shipping Company GSK. CMP wants to privatize again
ODESSA, 18 fierce. /Bohdan Dimovskiy - UKRINFORM/. The sovereign shipping company "Chornomorskoye sea steamship" will again try to privatize. Oleksandr Kozlov, the head of the regional department of the Derzhmain Fund of Ukraine for the Odesa region, told about this today, according to the correspondent of UKRINFORM.
Behind the words of O. Kozlov, the fact that the ChMP is going through the sanation process, it starts preparations for the sale.
Let's guess, for example, the last fate of the Great Gospodarsky Court of Ukraine, having judged the court decisions, as if they recognized the right of power to the main steamship for commercial structures, as it was estimated at the sum of about 400 million hryvnia. At the same time in 2009, the court continued the rehabilitation of the enterprise.
In 1991, there were 350 ships of the main fleet on the balance sheet of the ChMP. In 1993, the company's joint-stock concern "Blasko" had a number of approvals, which was recognized on its balance sheet of the company's ship. Most of them have been sold. For the rest of the tribute, the fleet of the DSK "ChMP" will become 6 units.
CHMP leaders
- F.I.Matveev
- - - B.M. Zenko
- - - P.P. Koval
- - - G.Ya.Magon
- - A.S. Polkovsky
- - - S.I. Tyomkin
- - - G.A. Mezentsev
- - I. G. Syrykh? (Sovtanker?)
- - - P.M. Makarenko
- A.E. Danchenko
- - - A.V.Goldobenko
- O.K.Thomas
- - S.A. Lukyanchenko
The tragedy with the ship "Bulgaria" inspired me with memories of my childhood, which passed in Odessa near the Marine Station. With what admiration I, like all Odessa boys, looked at the ships that moored to the berths of the port almost every day.
Odessa then stood on three pillars - art, medicine and the fleet.
The third whale during the independence of Ukraine was killed alive.
In 1990, the Black Sea Shipping Company (ChMP) was the largest in Europe and the third in the world. It included more than 300 ships of various classes. Of these, more than half were in working order. The profitability of shipping was almost 20%, the net foreign exchange earnings for the year were $0.8-1.0 billion and the net profit was $160 million
On August 13, 1993, by decree of the President of Ukraine (Kravchuk L.M.), the joint-stock shipping concern Blasko-Chernomorskoye Shipping Company was established. Pavel Kudyukin was appointed the president of the concern. Previously, he worked at the Northwestern Black Sea Shipping Control Center. This structure is engaged in escorting ships in the Black Sea. Then he headed MP "Forvater".
As an appendix to the decree, Leonid Kravchuk approved a list of enterprises included in the structure of the concern and subject to corporatization. Each division of the concern was corporatized separately and received the status of an independent legal entity. The personnel department of the concern became known as Blasko-crewing JSC, the bunkering department - Blasko-bunker; directorate of the bulk fleet - "Blasko-bulk"; information management - "Blasko-inform".
The concern worked under the leadership of Pavel Kudyukin from August 1993 to September 1994. His activities attracted the attention of the deputies of the Supreme Council of Ukraine. On December 24, 1993, the Supreme Council of Ukraine vetoed the decree of the President of Ukraine on the establishment of Blasco. Deputy Yury Karmazin explained this by saying that Blasko's leadership "violated everything that could be violated." Leonid Kravchuk, however, did not heed the deputies' warnings. He issued a new decree, which allowed the concern to continue its work despite the veto of the Supreme Council
On January 27, 1994, the Supreme Council of Ukraine decided to start checking the Black Sea Shipping Company. An investigative deputy commission was created under the leadership of the former prosecutor of the Primorsky district of Odessa, Yuri Karmazin. He explained that the audit began due to the fact that the concern's activities were suspiciously unprofitable. According to the deputy, ordinary employees of the concern did not receive a salary for 3-4 months - this has become a common practice. In addition, during the audit it turned out that Blasco's foreign currency accounts in Ukrainian banks were empty. All currency funds of the concern settled on accounts in English and German banks.
The commission of inquiry established that the management of the Blasco AIC, violating the current legislation and instructions of the National Bank of Ukraine, made decisions on the illegal opening of accounts in foreign banks in order to conceal foreign exchange earnings and evade taxes. Such accounts without appropriate licenses from the National Bank of Ukraine were opened in West German Dresdner Bank in Hamburg, Chemical Bank in Frankfurt am Main, British banks Hambros in London, Barclays in London, Royal Bank of Scotland (London) and other banks.
According to the commission, the management of the concern entered into unprofitable contracts for Ukraine on the transfer of the most profitable vessels to the management of foreign shipping companies. According to the commission, half of the 228 vessels were placed at the disposal of foreign firms. Under most contracts, the company paid DM 200,000 per year to its foreign partner for the management of one vessel, regardless of the financial result of this management.
By order of Pavel Kudyukin, from the currency accounts of the settlement center ASK "Blasko-ChMP" "Mostok" and the company "Blasko-YUK" in 1993-94. About $2.5 million was transferred to the accounts of the West German firm Euroconsult for the construction of an international business center in Kiev. Blasco's representative office in Kyiv was supposed to work in this center. However, no such center was built. Where the money went is unknown.
In 1994, the management of the concern took out a loan of $81 million to repair the Belorussiya motor ship. The ship was repaired at German shipyards. Karmazin explained that the repair of ships at German shipyards is considered one of the most expensive in the world, so the commission considers this contract extremely unprofitable.
In September 1994, the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine removed Pavel Kudyukin from the post of president of ASK Blasko-ChMP and fired him from the concern
On June 15, 1998, the Nikolaev Regional Court found P. Kudyukin guilty of committing crimes under Articles 80,80-1, 86-1, 165, 166, 172 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property and deposits, as well as foreign exchange earnings, securities that were in foreign currency accounts in German banks.
- November 5, 1998 Supreme Court Ukraine upheld the verdict of the Nikolaev regional court.
In 2000, President L. Kuchma pardoned P. Kudyukin, and he was released from prison. After serving only 5 years.
Now, the sea captain is raising pigs. Not marine, of course ...
The scheme for withdrawing vessels from the balance sheet was simple. The vessels were leased to various companies, which, in turn, transferred the vessels to sublease. Money transfers were carried out through shell banks, which, after posting the money, "burst" like soap bubbles. shipping offshore companies (Ocean Holding International Inc., Ocean Investment International Inc., Tamworth Shipping Corp., Ocean Investment Ukraine), 72 NSC ships worth a total of half a billion dollars were transferred.
According to the inspection of the economic activities of the Sea Trident company, conducted by the Main Control and Auditing Department of Ukraine, there were only 12 ships on the balance sheet of four groups, the fate of the remaining 60 is unknown (according to rumors, 35 of them were allegedly given to reimburse the debts of the Black Sea Shipping Company).
In 1996-1997, the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine issued a permit to transfer another 42 vessels to offshore companies. The vessels were decommissioned from the balance sheet of the GSK ChMP. the world's largest shipping company - the Black Sea Shipping Company has virtually disappeared.
22,000 sailors now sail under a foreign flag. If they come to Odessa, then either to visit their family or to visit.
Today, the state shipping company "Black Sea Shipping Company" has only 3 vessels and 350 employees.
The disappearance of about 300 ships (with the home port of Odessa) from the payroll of the Black Sea Shipping Company during 1993-2000 is the saddest story of the death of the fleet.
Only Pavel Kudyukin served time for the destruction of the fleet, which is more like a farce than the triumph of the Law. However, the real thieves, whose interests Kudyukin served, are known. They are alive and well. But there is no political will to arrest them.
Although this is what I think. Maybe it's for the best that they sold out the entire fleet. It would be much worse if these people continued to operate the ships. With their thirst for profit, there would be a lot of such tragedies as with the ship "Bulgaria", and Who knows how many people would have died.
