Journalists from Channel 5 have established that former forestry official Daniil Malandiy created a large shadow system that blocked access for Ukrainian woodworking enterprises to state resources for years. Behind the facade of a “fighter against corruption,” he built a market where only “his” companies survived, while honest businesses were effectively excluded from the bidding.
This is reported by Rivne24
A key role in the scheme was played by his accomplice – Mykola Yakovlev, the owner of the company “Dominanta.” It became a cover for illegal operations involving the sale of timber. Correspondence between Malandiy and representatives of “Dominanta,” obtained by journalists, confirmed that they predetermined the winners of the bids, coordinated the volumes of timber, and lowered the starting prices.
To prevent the participation of outside companies, Malandiy employed several “filters”:
– auctions lasted only 15 minutes, so most enterprises simply did not have time to register;
– a 100% guarantee deposit was required, which was burdensome for small businesses;
– information about the auctions was published late or incompletely.
As a result, legally operating woodworking enterprises lost access to raw materials. They could not purchase timber at reasonable prices because all the resources were obtained by Malandiy and Yakovlev’s “own” structures, which then resold it at market prices.
Such manipulations led to catastrophic consequences for the industry: many small and medium woodworking businesses halted production, hundreds of people lost their jobs, and communities where forestry was the main source of income suffered significant economic losses.
For more details, see the investigation by Channel 5 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz5gX3wOok4