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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The bankruptcy of the state enterprise "Rykhalske" in Zhytomyr region, which specializes in keeping dairy breeds of cattle, may have benefited the circle of former People's Deputy from Petro Poroshenko's Bloc Oleh Dmytrenko, who was elected in Chernihiv region. Recently the State Property Fund suspended the inefficient management associated with former director Serhiy Koretskyi, so the enterprise must begin repaying wage debts and debts to counterparties. Meanwhile, certain activists plan to parcel out the state enterprise's lands and return the previous leadership, the publication Korotko.Pro reports.
The publication notes that the enterprise became known across Ukraine at the end of 2025 when animal welfare activists discovered improper treatment of animals at the farm. Several dozen cows died from disease, the rest were excessively thin, and some animals did not have identification tags on inspection, meaning they had been brought to the enterprise illegally. The director was notified of suspicion of official negligence: allegedly he removed himself from solving the cows' health problems, did not involve appropriate specialists, and as a result the state suffered losses of more than 1 million UAH.
According to public data, "Rykhalske" owns more than 100 land plots totaling about 3 thousand hectares, of which 2,8 thousand are arable land. Until 2023 the enterprise was under the management of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences; later the government decided to transfer the neglected state enterprise to the State Property Fund with subsequent preparation for privatization. In November 2024 the bankruptcy procedure for SE "Rykhalske" was initiated by the agricultural company BATKIVSHCHYNA, which had leased part of Rykhalske’s land, provided equipment for its operation and at the same time claimed in court an unpaid debt of 34 million UAH.
Bankruptcy may be part of a scheme to remove the enterprise from the State Property Fund’s management and avoid paying taxes. Because of court claims, Rykhalske's property is under arrest. There is an opinion that the agricultural company BATKIVSHCHYNA initiated the bankruptcy by agreement with then-director of the state enterprise Serhiy Koretskyi. BATKIVSHCHYNA belongs to former People's Deputy from Chernihiv region Oleh Dmytrenko. "The basis of his business is driving state enterprises into bankruptcy and then privatizing them for his own benefit. Therefore the possibility of 'raiding' another state enterprise is something the Dmytrenko family cannot ignore. They have launched not only an economic blockade of SE 'Rykhalske' but also are conducting a discrediting information campaign against the enterprise on the pages of Chernihiv online outlets. They say some of those outlets belong to Dmytrenko himself," the article says.
Koretskyi, through whose actions Dmytrenko is trying to retain control over the enterprise, was dismissed by the State Property Fund in spring 2025 due to systematic failure to follow orders and directives. An audit of his activities revealed accumulated wage debts of more than 5 million UAH and another 7 million UAH in debts under open enforcement proceedings (to counterparties and payments to the state budget). The ex-director immediately appealed the dismissal in court and is still in legal proceedings with the state enterprise.
According to the publication, Koretskyi's return to the village is supported by a small initiative group headed by the former storekeeper of the state enterprise Anatoliy Prysyazhniuk. They support Koretskyi because of his promises to parcel out the state enterprise's lands and distribute them to village workers of the enterprise. "This is effectively about the illegal withdrawal of state lands and causing damage to it, since the enterprise's lands are not an asset that can be parceled out. Therefore the State Property Fund has no such plans: the enterprise is put up for sale as a single property complex and is awaiting an investor," the author adds.
After Koretskyi, the Fund appointed Vyacheslav Herasymenko as director. It was Herasymenko's alleged official negligence (a suspicion was announced in July 2026) that likely led to the death of cows and the spread of disease on the farm. However, it is quite possible that such a state of affairs, without long-term proper support from investors and with constant looting and siphoning of funds from the company by Koretskyi and his circle, could have been the only possible scenario. "It was precisely the initiative group led by Koretskyi and Prysyazhniuk that prevented the new director from entering the enterprise, and also prevented local residents who worked here and cared for the animals from working," the article says.
3 August 2026 the State Property Fund appointed a new director – Yurii Bakhilov.
At the meeting they emphasized the need to audit the enterprise, resolve problematic issues, and ensure the effective use of state assets and land resources. The significance of the situation around the state enterprise at the national level is evidenced by the fact that the head of the State Property Fund, Dmytro Natalukha, personally came to introduce Bakhilov to the staff, and the meeting was attended by the leadership of the regional military administration. Bakhilov must solve problems with wage debts, arrears to the budget and to counterparties, and prepare SE "Rykhalske" for the privatization competition.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "За доведенням до банкрутства державного виробника молока на Житомирщині може стояти оточення ексдепутата Олега Дмитренка з Чернігівщини - ЗМІ". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Informator.
