Industrial rivalry in Donbas

Yesterday I posted a translation about troubles in the Donbas region between some of Ukraine's largest and most powerful industrial corporations - Rinat Akhmetov's SCM, and the Mariupol Metallurgical Combine im. Ilyich run by Volodymyr Boyko, (see photo) who is one of Ukraine's richest men and a Socialist VR deputy. He may well be their financial sponsor.

Akhmetov is PoR's financial 'sugar daddy'. PoR and the Socialists, together with the Communists form the ruling coalition in Ukraine's parliament.

There was more on this in an article in 'Kommersant' today:
Here's some of it:

An economic war has flared up between some of Ukraine's largest metallurgical groups. At the end of last week the director of the Mariupol Metallurgical Combine im. Ilyich [MMK] Volodymyr Boyko openly accused the "largest financial- industrial groups" of unjustified price increases in raw material - he was talking of structures, controlled by Rinat Akhmetov and Vadim Novinskiy.

In the opinion of experts, the cause for this war is bitter rivalry in a privatisation competition for two industrial enterprises: "Komsomol mine management", and Krivoy Rog GOK [ore enrichment plant].

"It is obvious that the entire metallurgical market is set against Volodymyr Boyko today. There are several reasons for this. First of all Mr. Boyko is behaving aggressively and, instead of negotiating with the partners, he blames them," said the director of the union of blast-furnace workers Vladimir Tereshchenko.

"He has crossed the path of the Russian 'Metalloinvest ' and 'Smart- Group ', insisting that the Krivoy Rog GOK should be his, and not shared in a joint venture. But he has also annoyed the entire market by fact that he attained preferential conditions for the privatization of "Komsomol mine management" from State Property Fund," added Tereshchenko.