4 May 2025

...Butkevych’s "Gold Mine": Perzhanske Beryllium Deposit

How Butkevych Gained Control

• In 2019, at a State Geological Service auction, "Perzhanska Mining Company" LLC (controlled by Butkevych) won the right to develop the Perzhanske deposit.
• The initial lot price was 60.9 million UAH, the winning bid was 76 million UAH (+25% to the starting price).
• The company had a minimum capital of 25,000 UAH, initially registered at a private residence, and later in the town of Olevsk in the Zhytomyr region.
• The founders: Orlov Oleh (83.3%), Nastenko Oleksandr (8.4%), Yakymenko Vitaliy (8.3%).
• The contract with the winner was signed on the auction day – April 22, 2019.

Corruption risks and auction scheme

• Part of Butkevych’s company’s special permits were obtained without transparent auctions, which became the subject of criminal investigations. This was written about by NASHI GROSHI.
• Auctions were often won by companies with minimal capital, registered at residential addresses, with founders involved in a number of similar firms.
• The State Geological Service organized "sell-offs" of subsoil, which raised suspicions of collusion between business and the state body. (Detail on the corruption scandal in the next issue).

Environmental disaster in exchange for profit

• The Perzhanske deposit is partially located in the Polisky Nature Reserve, the Mykytche reserve, and the Slovachansky Ridge landscape park.
• Beryllium extraction is accompanied by toxic emissions, posing a threat to the environment.
• The Prosecutor’s Office demanded the revocation of the regional council’s decision to allocate plots due to their reserve status, but appellate courts sided with the company...