Russia destroys tank of Shchedryi Dar and Chumak oil maker in Mykolaiv region: thousands of square metres flooded

A body of water near the plant. As of 13 November, no oil had been detected in the water. Photo: State Environmental Inspectorate

A Russian drone struck a tank containing sunflower oil at the Bandurka oil extraction plant belonging to the Kernel agricultural holding in the Pervomaisk district of Mykolaiv region. The oil spilled onto the surrounding area and contaminated over 3,500 square metres of land.

«NikVesti» learnt of this from a report by the State Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western District.

A drone struck the plant’s premises in the village of Bandurka on 12 November at around 05:30. The impact damaged four tanks containing 8,500 tonnes of sunflower oil. One of them, with a capacity of 3,000 cubic metres, was completely destroyed.

The protective embankment surrounding the tanks was also damaged, causing the oil to leak onto an adjacent plot of land. According to the inspectorate, there is no threat to residential areas.

Environmental inspectors have taken soil samples, and the extent of the environmental damage will be assessed following laboratory tests. As of 12:00 on 13 November, the oil had not reached the Chornyi Tashlyk River. This is a tributary of the Syniukha, which flows into the Southern Bug in Pervomaisk.

At the plant, oil is being pumped out from the damaged embankment and additional earthen barriers are being erected to prevent it from reaching water bodies.

Spilled sunflower oil near the Bandurka oil extraction plant following a strike by a Russian drone. Photo: State Environmental Inspectorate

Oil has leaked past the damaged embankment onto an adjacent plot. Photo: State Environmental Inspectorate

The plant of Ukraine’s largest oil producer

The Bandurka plant is one of eight oil extraction plants belonging to «Kernel», Ukraine’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil. The company sells bottled oil under the «Shchedryi Dar», «Stozhar» and «Chumak» brands.

Kernel launched the plant in Bandurka in December 2010. According to Latifundist.com, it has the capacity to process 528,000 tonnes of seeds per year. This represents around 15 per cent of the holding’s total capacity, which stands at 3.5 million tonnes.

On 12 November, the day of the attack on Bandurka, Kernel shut down all its oil extraction plants. The company’s statement says that Russian drones have been deliberately targeting Ukraine’s processing plants over the past few days. Production buildings, equipment and storage tanks were damaged, but none of the employees were injured.

«For the safety of our staff, we have decided to temporarily halt operations at the plants,» the company’s statement reads.

The company has also halted seed procurement, whilst continuing to dispatch finished products from its warehouses. On the same day, «Delta Wilmar Ukraine» shut down its plant in the Odesa region due to the security situation and emergency power cuts.

Attacks on Kernel have been ongoing since spring

Since May, Russian drones have struck Kernel’s terminals at the port of Chornomorsk in the Odesa region at least three times:

• 3 May — at the oil transhipment terminal: on that occasion, over 1,100 tonnes of oil leaked;
• 5 June — at the grain terminal;
• 10–12 July — following massive attacks, the company suspended operations at its terminals; tens of thousands of tonnes of grain and oil were lost.

Due to the attacks on its ports, Kernel was unable to ship its products for almost the whole of July–September. Oil sales for this quarter fell by 48 per cent, to 165,000 tonnes, although the plants processed almost as many seeds as last year.

Oil spill in Mykolaiv in 2022

On 16 October 2022, Russian Shahed drones struck sunflower oil tanks at the Everi enterprise in Mykolaiv. The oil spilled into the Bug Estuary: the slick covered around 750 square metres, and 675.8 cubic metres were recovered from the surface. The State Environmental Inspectorate estimated the environmental damage at 39.9 billion hryvnias for the pollution of the estuary and a further 1.6 million hryvnias for 549.8 square metres of land.

In Bandurka, the oil covered an area of land at least six times larger. According to the Inspectorate, it did not reach the water.