Employees of the the state-owned Zorya-Mashproekt in Mykolaiv has not been paid for two months

Enterprise building Zorya-Mashproekt. Photo from open sources

Employees of the state-owned strategic defence enterprise Zorya-Mashproekt in Mykolaiv, which is part of the «Ukroboronprom» concern, have not been paid for two months.

NikVesti spoke to an employee of the enterprise who wished to remain anonymous.

According to him, in November, the employees were paid only 25% of their advance salary, and they have not received their salary for the month. In December, the situation did not change.

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«In November, we were paid 25% of the advance, which means the advance was not paid in full. We haven't received our November salary, and it's already December. Well, the advance for December should be somewhere at the end of the week, but it won't be. The management explains that the year was a failure, the contract was not fulfilled, and there was shelling. They promise to pay something before the New Year, but I don't know how it will be,» an employee of Zorya-Mashproekt told us.

He adds that there are families working at the enterprise where both husband and wife depend on this salary.

«I understand that the situation is difficult, but people have to live for something. I have no money, my friends help me. I have no confidence in the future,» the man adds.

On 9 December, employees and management met at the plant, and our editorial office received a full recording of the conversation. During the meeting, Oleksii Tsymbal, acting director of SE Zorya-Mashproekt, admitted that the situation was difficult and said that the company was waiting for money.

«I would like to be like Santa Claus, who distributes salaries, distributes heat, makes promises and keeps them. I understand that I have no right to do that — I have to be honest with the team. Our situation is as follows: we are waiting for money. The money will be used primarily to pay salaries. We will still have to spend part of it on gas and electricity, because it is impossible to receive salaries but not be able to work and produce products — in January or February we will simply stop. That is why I am responsible for the distribution of funds based on the needs,» said Oleksii Tsymbal.

As a reminder, Ukroboronprom is keeping the results of the competitive selection of candidates for the position of director of the Mykolaiv-based state-owned enterprise Zorya-Mashproekt, which took place almost three months ago, on 25 September, secret, and is not appointing a new director.

Embezzlement at Zorya-Mashproekt

Zorya-Mashproekt, archive photo: NikVesti

In September 2023, the NABU and the SAPO served four former CEOs of the Zorya-Mashproekt plant and one entrepreneur with a notice of suspicion of embezzlement of 1.32 billion hryvnias. The investigation established that the management of the plant Zorya-Mashproekt, which exported its own products abroad, organised a scheme to misappropriate the state-owned enterprise's funds. To do this, a number of agency agreements were concluded with a non-resident company, under which it was supposed to provide services for finding and negotiating with potential buyers of the state-owned enterprise's products to conclude relevant foreign economic contracts with them.

In January 2024, the former CEO of the state-owned enterprise «Research and Production Complex for Gas Turbine Construction Zorya-Mashproekt, Konstantyn Kartoshkin, had his bail reduced by 1 million hryvnias.

In May 2024, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court dismissed for the second time the complaint against the notice of suspicion served on the former CEO of the state-owned enterprise «Gas Turbine Research and Production Complex Zorya-Mashproekt Andrii Khomenko.

A resident of Mykolaiv sued Zorya-Mashproekt for ₴1 million after his dismissal

As a reminder, the employee had been working at the company since 2010, and since 2018 he had been working as a shop manager. Since June 2022, he has not received his salary and was barred from the workplace without explanation. He found out that by an order dated 20 May 2022, the company suspended his employment contract on the basis of Article 13 of the Law of Ukraine «On the Organisation of Labour Relations under Martial Law».

At the trial, the plaintiff argued that he had not received a notice of suspension of his employment contract, as the company continued to operate and his position had not been reduced. Thus, he considered the suspension of his employment contract to be illegal and demanded its cancellation, as well as payment of his salary for the period from June 2022.

As a result, the company Zorya-Mashproekt will be charged with the average salary for the period of forced absenteeism in the amount of 1.2 million hryvnias.