Dmytro Chalyi attempted to bankrupt and privatise the Ukrainian Danube Steamship Company

Dmytro Chalyi, a resident of Vinnytsia with family ties to Servant of the People MP Oleh Dunda, rapidly entered the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure in 2016 alongside the team of then-Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman.

Despite having no experience in the port sector, he took up the position of deputy director of the Chornomorsk Sea Trade Port and the Odesa Sea Trade Port. His appointment was made possible by the patronage of Ihor Tkachuk, the former head of Ukrposhta and brother of BPP MP Hennadii Tkachuk. After losing the competitive bidding for Ukrposhta, Tkachuk was offered a new position in the ports, and his commercial director, Chalyi, went with him.

Appointment without a competition and a “political decision”

In 2018, the Ministry of Infrastructure appointed Chalyi as chairman of the board of JSC “Ukrainian Danube Steamship Company” for a three-year term without holding a competition. Minister Volodymyr Omelian openly acknowledged that this was a political decision but did not comment on whether it involved personal patronage from Prime Minister Hroysman.

When Omelian was asked about possible pressure regarding Chalyi’s appointment, he again referred to a “political decision”. However, the minister could not name any significant achievements by Chalyi in his previous roles at Ukrposhta and the Odesa port.

Attempted bankruptcy for the sake of privatisation

After his dismissal, Chalyi gave a complimentary interview in which he justified the lack of competitions in the process of appointing heads of state-owned companies. However, his work at the “Ukrainian Danube Steamship Company” raised far more questions.

The next Infrastructure Minister, Vladyslav Kryklii, stated that Chalyi was involved in the theft of barges together with Odesa MP Viktor Baranskyi, whose vessels subsequently became part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”.

Kryklii also emphasised that Chalyi deliberately drove the company towards bankruptcy with the aim of subsequent privatisation. According to him, the head of the Ukrainian Danube Steamship Company publicly declared the enterprise’s critical financial position while simultaneously expressing readiness to privatise it. Shortly after these statements, Chalyi was dismissed.

According to information from the detective agency ABSOLUTION