The enterprises of oligarch and ‘King of Ukrainian Poultry’ Yuriy Kosyuk are polluting the environment in Ukraine, yet the businessman has not been held accountable for these violations

One of the largest poultry producers, MHP (Kyiv), ended 2023 with a net profit of $142 million, compared to a loss of $231 million in 2022. Additionally, the company’s revenue increased by 14.4% or $379 million, reaching $3.021 billion compared to 2022. Export revenue was $1.807 billion, which is 13% higher than last year.

Since 2008, Yuriy Kosyuk’s name has appeared on the list of Ukrainian billionaires. He is the founder and main owner of MHP Corporation, which is involved in poultry production, grain cultivation, meat and sausage products, and the development of a fast-food chain.

In our previous articles, we discussed how Yuriy Kosyuk is trying to establish himself in the Croatian market and the corruption scandals associated with his name. However, Kosyuk’s name is also involved in several scandals related to environmental pollution, for which he has not been held accountable.

Kosyuk’s enterprise in Cherkasy caused an environmental disaster

In 2019, a round table was held in Cherkasy regarding the illegal construction of “Nasha Ryaba” chicken coops in the village of Moshny, Cherkasy region. The event, held on July 10, was attended by village residents and experts who assessed the threats and consequences for the region’s ecology, as well as the life and health of local residents, posed by the future chicken coop.

“People are raising the alarm. They conducted a series of protests, and when local actions did not yield the desired results, they went to the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv. However, even this did not help because the ‘chicken monster,’ the Myronivsky Hliboproduct holding, is backed by Ukrainian billionaire Yuriy Kosyuk and his lobbyist in the Verkhovna Rada, People’s Deputy Vladyslav Holub,” noted the round table participants.

Back in 2014, when the poultry production monopoly Myronivsky Hliboproduct (trademark “Nasha Ryaba”) informed the Moshny Village Council deputies that it would build 144 industrial poultry houses in their village, the residents began to resist the construction, which they believed would lead to mountains of manure in the fields, unbearable stench day and night, and water pollution threats.

The risks include the likelihood of nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals entering the environment, emissions of ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide, aromatic hydrocarbons, dust, and more. No public hearings were held on the construction project in the village. The public’s opinion was not taken into account either in 2014 or now.

The goal of the event by ecologists and villagers was to draw the attention of law enforcement agencies, local authorities, and the public to the threat of an environmental crisis in the region due to another attempt to revive the “chicken expansion of Kosyuk and Holub.”

Kosyuk’s enterprise caused an environmental disaster in the Vinnytsia region

In October 2023, 9 tons of fish were killed overnight in the Vinnytsia region due to a factory’s violation of environmental regulations by dumping waste into the river. The factory belongs to the oligarch Kosyuk.

According to Ukrainian Caviar Berry, the company that lost the fish, about 3,000 Azov sturgeon, beluga, and others were killed. The disaster also affected a unique breeding herd of sturgeon, which is on the brink of extinction.

The company’s management is aware of attempts to find places to dispose of poultry production waste, which might have led to the fish kill this time.

This event shocked not only the company’s management but also outraged the entire environmental community. The Environmental Protection Prosecutor’s Office opened a case.

It should be noted that this is not the first time the oligarch has been targeted by eco-activists, and his enterprises have been accused of eco-genocide. Companies within the holding regularly become embroiled in scandals related to creating environmental hazards.