The chemical industry provides about 13.2% of the peninsula's total industrial production. The main production facilities are concentrated in the north and are located at the Crimean Titan plant in Armyansk and the Crimean Soda Plant in Krasnoperekopsk, which are part of Dmitry Firtash’s business group (Sgoir OR).
Construction of the Crimean Soda Plant began in 1967 near. The construction site was chosen due to the presence near the production site of a natural source of table salt, energy resources, water resources of the North Crimean Canal, as well as convenient transport logistics and the possibility of discharging production waste into closed salt lakes. In 1973, the production of disodium phosphate was launched, in 1975 the production of soda ash began, and in 2008 the enterprise began producing baking soda. Now the main product of the plant remains the production of soda ash, which forms 98% of all revenue. Manufactured products are supplied both to the Ukrainian market and to the CIS countries and far abroad (through the ports of Odessa and Odessa). Now the plant accounts for about 2% of the world's production of soda ash; in the Ukrainian market its share reaches 80%. In 2013, the plant produced 582 thousand tons of soda ash, including 427.5 thousand tons of “A” grade soda, 24.4 thousand tons of table salt, and over 4 thousand tons of baking soda.
In recent years, the company's revenue amounts to 6-7 billion rubles; due to unfavorable conditions on the global chemical market, the plant has been chronically unprofitable in recent years (in 2012, the company's loss amounted to 0.9 billion rubles). At the same time, the company continued to invest heavily in development - in 2013, capital investments reached 0.7 billion rubles. The main volume of investments (0.36 billion rubles) was aimed at the construction of a cogeneration plant for the generation of electricity and heat with a capacity of 14.4 MW.
The company also continued to invest in the development of baking soda production and in the development of the North-Baksan limestone deposit, which will be able to provide future demand for limestone from the enterprise (the annual demand is estimated at 1.1 thousand tons).
Another large chemical plant, CJSC Crimean Titan, is located in the north of the peninsula in the city of Armyansk, and is also under the operational control of Sgoir OR (owns 100% of the company’s shares). The decision to build a plant was made in 1969, and already in 1971 a workshop for the production of ammophos was put into operation, in 1973 a complex for the production of aluminum sulfate and solid glass began operating, and by 1978 2 workshops were launched for the production of pigment titanium dioxide. Now the plant is the largest producer of titanium dioxide in Eastern Europe (the installed capacity of the plant for this type of product is 80 thousand tons per year), which is widely used in the paint and varnish, metallurgical and pulp and paper industries. According to preliminary data, in 2013 Crimean Titan produced 107.9 thousand tons of titanium dioxide.
In recent years, the company's revenue has been growing; thanks to vertical integration and stable demand for its products, the plant managed to reach a positive profitability zone (in 2012, net profit reached 0.2 billion rubles). However, if the border is blocked, the situation at the enterprise may worsen significantly - titanium is supplied for processing from the Irshansky GOK (Zhytomyr region) and the Volnogorsk GOK (Dnepropetrovsk region). Stopping the supply of raw materials can lead to a shutdown of the enterprise.
text Ksenia Zolotareva. Ekaterina Levitskaya, Nicole Jamal
The operation of the enterprise was suspended for two weeks. Sulfur compounds entered the atmosphere due to a sharp change in air temperature
The work of the Crimean Titan plant has been suspended for two weeks, the head of Crimea announced thisSergey Aksyonov. “This morning I spoke with the head of Rosportrebnadzor of the Russian Federation Anna Popova<…>working groups from all control departments arrived. Based on the results of the meeting, I, in agreement with the management of the Titan plant, decided to suspend production at the plant for two weeks. The management of the enterprise supported this initiative and promised that all employees would receive a full monthly salary,” says its official statement on the website of the republican administration.
On August 23, in Armyansk, where the plant is located, an unpleasant odor appeared and an oily yellowish coating formed on open surfaces. Local residents began to complain of a sore throat and irritation of the nasal mucosa. According to the Crimean administration, daily control measurements of air, water and soil began at the same time, which did not show excess concentrations of harmful substances. The maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide exceeded the norm for the first time this night, due to a sharp diurnal temperature drop. According to preliminary data, the cause of the release was evaporation from the factory acid storage tank.
Due to chemical contamination of the territory, the republican authorities decided to introduce a two-week holiday in educational institutions of Armyansk and neighboring villages: Perekop, Pyatikhatka and Filatovka. According to the Minister of Education, Science and Youth of Crimea Natalia Goncharova, schoolchildren from grades 2 to 11, accompanied by class teachers and health workers, will be sent to children's camps in Evpatoria, Bakhchisarai and Saki districts. “If children have brothers or sisters in other classes, they will not be separated - they will end up in the same boarding house or health camp. If the teacher has a child studying at another school, they will also be sent together. Children of preschool age and first graders will be sent to sanatoriums with their mothers,” the press service of the republican administration quotes the minister. In total, almost four thousand children will be sent to camps and sanatoriums.
According to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Igor Mikhailichenko, in Armyansk laboratory samples of water, soil and air were taken again. “Today, Rospotrebnadzor specialists re-took laboratory samples of water, soil and air, they were sent to the Moscow laboratory, and in the evening we are expecting research results,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
The Crimean Titan plant is a branch of a large Russian manufacturer of titanium dioxide - Titanium Investments LLC. According to IAS Seldon Basis, the company was registered in Moscow in 2014. The director of the company is Alexander Emelin. The main activity is the production of pigments and dyes. At the end of 2016, the company's revenue amounted to 7.5 billion rubles, loss - 231 million rubles. Titanium Investments LLC is 100% owned by Cypriot LLC Letan Investment Limited. According to open sources, every fourth resident of Armyansk works at the Crimean Titan plant.
At a meeting of the operational headquarters in Armyansk, possible technical solutions were developed to eliminate harmful fumes from the plant’s acid storage tank. One option is to fill the reservoir with water. “We need to determine how this water will interact with the acidic environment so as not to worsen the situation. If the examination is positive, then this water should be used. However, this may take a long time,” Sergei Aksyonov commented on the decision. The second possible method is to treat the acid storage tank with special chemical compounds. The final decision will be made within three days.
What's really happening in Armyansk? What is the cause of the environmental disaster? Who is threatened by toxic emissions from Crimean chemical enterprises? And will Armyansk be suitable for human life? We are talking about this in the studio of Radio Crimea. Realities with the head of the Association of the Hospitality Industry of Ukraine, ex-Minister of Resorts and Tourism of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Alexander Liev.
Old residents of the city will not remember what happened now
- As a former resident of Armyansk, I know that in the “chemical” region (Armensk - Krasnoperekopsk - northern Crimea) several tens of thousands of people work at chemical plants. I myself was a director and one of the shareholders of Brom OJSC in Krasnoperekopsk, and we were accustomed to all sorts of emissions there. And Armyansk is located in such a way that, thanks to the wind rose, quite frequent emissions from the sulfuric acid workshop of the Titan plant reached the villages of Krasny Chaban (now the village of Preobrazhenka, Kherson region, - KR) or the village of Perekop, but usually did not reach the city itself. The old residents of the city will not remember what happened now. I know this acid accumulator well, and I remember that in the heat it was regularly irrigated, special curtains were created, I was surprised: does this really help? But work was carried out to dilute the acid content. Now I called several dozen people and asked questions, and the plant’s technologists say that the disaster is connected specifically with the acid storage tank and that it has not been diluted with water for a long time, as was the case before.
The consequences are noticeable for people physiologically - on the mucous membranes and skin - within a radius of 25 kilometers. It is also clear from the plants that something unusual is happening. Visible on cars and metal objects. For example, the metal fence of my grandmother, who lives there, turned bright red overnight. We will have to study for a long time what other consequences there will be. And how else will the fauna react? There are many rare steppe animals and insects there. In general, this is a big problem.
– The first reports of releases of toxic substances appeared on the night of August 23-24. And the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine took place only on September 6. Then a message came that the checkpoints would be closed. 37 employees of the Ukrainian border control service sought medical help. Isn’t there really special equipment in such areas that should respond to emissions? And why did it take the Ukrainian authorities two weeks to respond?
Our government appreciated that this topic attracted the attention of Ukrainians, and this forced us to convene a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council and, in general, show our reaction
– The Titan plant is located in Armyansk not because there are raw materials for it or sales of its products. The plant has previously encountered various conflicts due to the fact that it is located at the junction of two administrative regions of Ukraine – the Kherson region and Crimea. There were even discussions on changing administrative borders. And it is certainly not suitable for working in conditions where Crimea is a gray zone and the plant is on the collision line. It is obvious that there is a hushing up of the problem, and the old Soviet and Putin theme of showing that “everything is fine with us.” The reaction of the Ukrainian authorities also smacks of politics and the upcoming elections. And thank God that in Ukraine public opinion dictates to the authorities, and not, as in Russia, the authorities dictate to society. Our government appreciated that this topic attracted the attention of Ukrainians, and this forced us to convene a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council and, in general, show our reaction.
– Russia had more leverage on the situation, monitoring tools, but they said that everything was fine, that no one was to blame for exceeding the concentration of the substance, nevertheless, after two weeks they decided to take the children out. Can this be considered a repeat of what happened with Chernobyl in 1986?
Any foreign commission can ban the operation of factories because it is a powder keg
– It is difficult to comment on everything that the occupiers are doing there. This is most often the execution of the Kremlin’s directives, and the Kremlin doesn’t dig particularly deep. Our human rights group “February 20” helped Crimeans a lot, and we raised the issue with the Ukrainian government about the necessary actions. Both the Titan plant and the Crimean Soda Plant are heavily dependent on the Ukrainian energy system and on the resource base, including water, and the North Crimean Canal. They are part of the ecosystem of the Black Sea and Azov regions. These factories, as I said, are unable to operate in a gray zone. Firtash earns money by creating risks for people in the southern part of the Kherson region and the northern part of Crimea - this is about 500 thousand people. We need to talk about this and attract foreign experts. I think that any foreign commission can ban the operation of factories, because it is a powder keg.
– What should Kyiv do? Demand the closure of Titan or, as some suggest, hide our pride and let the water flow so that this plant can come to life?
The monitoring mission has every reason to visit there, because the situation concerns two seas of international importance - the Black and Azov
– We need a monitoring mission. She has every reason to visit there, if only because the situation concerns two seas of international importance - the Black and Azov. In addition, I am an adherent of the idea that we must maintain ties with Crimea and, through these ties, keep Crimea in the orbit of Ukraine. Those who do not believe in the return of Crimea are in favor of cutting off the ends, digging a ditch, building a wall - and “so that you all die there.” I consider such people to be more separatists than those who were in Crimea. I believe in the return of Crimea. If one day circumstances developed in such a way that it became possible to capture him, they can also develop in such a way that we can return him.
We must be ready to take advantage of such circumstances. Maintaining ties with Crimea involves supplying both water and electricity. I consider the blackout of Crimea to be absolutely ignorant. What are these strange methods in a modern country that strives for Europe? What prevented the president Poroshenko make the following statement: “Dear Crimeans. Today our electricity consumption in Crimea is 100 units. Of these, 40 units are consumed by the population, and 60 units are consumed by Firtash and Russian military complexes. From today we supply you with only 40% of electricity per day. And when your electricity is turned off, know that it is not we who turn it off, your fellow citizens who understand that you are occupied, but your own occupiers who turn you off”? It was possible to supply food. Ukrainian products are of higher quality, cheaper, tastier and more familiar to Crimeans. We could repackage it, label it, even deliver it in yellow-blue packaging. Then Crimeans would have a referendum every day, when they must decide whether to buy high-quality Ukrainian yogurt or disgusting Russian yogurt that costs twice as much.
Evacuation of children from Armyansk. September 4, 2018– The Russian information field is controlled by the Kremlin, and not everyone in Russia knows about the scale of the environmental disaster in Armyansk. But sooner or later this information will leak out. Will the influx of Russians on the peninsula become less?
– Crimea received 1 million 200 tourists from Russia in peacetime. In my opinion, these were people who really loved Crimea. For me, the image of such a tourist, whom we have always been waiting for in Crimea, is Yuri Shevchuk, lead singer of the group "DDT". He said that going to Crimea is not tourism, but a pilgrimage. After the occupation, such Russians stopped going there. The flow was replenished by people who came not of their own free will, but on vouchers that were given to them for free, and there are about 700 thousand such people every year.
Environmental problems in Crimea will not stop such a tourist. But the increase in tourist flow that I spoke about Aksenov, it’s hardly worth predicting – both because of the environmental disaster and because military equipment is constantly moving in Crimea. Adequate, normal Russians now do not see Crimea as a safe recreation area. They don’t see it as effective for investment. Therefore, there are no systemic investments. There are several companies that took something away for free, painted it and whitewashed it - but this is not an investment. Even interesting, tasty projects are not financed. That is, Russian money does not go to Crimea.
Residents of the southern Kherson region and northern Crimea complain of health problems due to air pollution from the Crimean Titan plant. On September 4, several hundred children were urgently evacuated from Armyansk to a sanatorium on the South Coast. What caused it is in DW's report from the scene.
For the second week, passions have not subsided in the south of the Kherson region and in Crimea. Due to harmful emissions from the Crimean Titan plant, located on the peninsula, in Armyansk, residents of surrounding settlements both in Crimea itself and in the neighboring Kherson region are complaining of health problems. On September 4, the management of the plant, owned by Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash, decided to suspend its work for two weeks. However, the next day, the pipes of the largest producer of titanium dioxide in Eastern Europe - a white dye that is widely used in various industries - are still smoking.
Health complaints
On the morning of Wednesday, September 5, residents of the village of Preobrazhenka, Kherson region, gather at the local first-aid post. From “Crimean Titan” to Preobrazhenka is even closer than to Armyansk: in fact, the enterprise and the village are separated only by the factory pond. A commission from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health is awaiting here to examine complaints about deterioration in health over the past week. “Difficulty breathing, people have a burning sensation in the throat and nose, allergic reactions have intensified,” local doctors recount citizens’ complaints.
A pile of applications accumulates on the table in the reception area: residents write petitions to local and central authorities asking them to influence the situation and stop air pollution.
Andrey, a local border guard, is in civilian clothes today. He describes the situation at the Kalanchak checkpoint on the administrative border with Crimea as follows: “This has been going on for almost a week. Look, even our booth is corroded. They provided masks, but they were of little use. At night, when the humidity rises, even the skin gets hot.”
Due to air pollution, the State Border Service of Ukraine has already made changes to the duty schedule of local patrols. As Ivan Shevtsov, press officer of the Kherson border detachment, explained to DW, “the soldiers received personal protective equipment (...) and in areas where dangerous emissions were recorded, posts were replaced.”
Dangerous "Crimean Titan"
The first complaints about a sudden deterioration in health began to arrive on August 24 from residents of Armyansk. A few days later, the de facto head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, linked the complaints to the activities of the plant and allowed production to be suspended. However, having visited Armyansk a few days later together with the Rospotrebnadzor inspection, he no longer talked about closing the plant. Air measurements taken that day allegedly did not reveal any excess of permissible standards. At the same time, the now most common version of the origin of the emissions appeared - the evaporation of sulfuric acid from a storage reservoir near the plant.
Sulfuric acid is produced there, at Crimean Titan: it is an important element in the technological process. The acid is stored in a special collector under a layer of water, the level of which, as environmentalists say, dropped significantly during the dry July and August. On August 31, Aksenov promised that an additional 10,000 cubic meters of water from local wells would be poured into the collector, assuring that there was no particular threat to the health of local residents.
There are no boundaries for sulfuric acid
The Ukrainian authorities do not have a clear answer to what exactly and when got into the air. On August 31, the inspectorate of the regional environmental department came to the administrative border together with the head of the Kherson regional administration Andrey Gordeev. However, then air samples did not reveal exceeding the maximum limit for hazardous substances, including sulfuric acid.
“Of course, we understand that a single measurement is not representative,” Ekaterina Ryzhenko, deputy head of the department of atmospheric air regulation and environmental impact, tells DW. “At that time, the wind could simply have been blowing in the wrong direction. But we don’t have the opportunity to carry out regular measurements because we don’t have a mobile laboratory.”
Border guards have portable measuring instruments - at one time they were purchased with the help of the EU. And for several days now they have been recording excesses of permissible pollution standards at various sections of the border. However, they do not provide specific indicators for harmful substances and their content in the air.
Versions of what is happening on the Crimean Titan
But the lack of specifics does not prevent Kherson governor Andrey Gordeev from having his own version of the causes of the environmental problem. “The sulfuric acid reservoir is nonsense, another reason to blame Ukraine for the lack of water supply in Crimea,” he assured DW on September 3.
The North Crimean Canal, which was closed in 2014 above Preobrazhenka, was indeed the main source of water supply for Crimean Titan. However, over the past few years, the enterprise has found water for production, taking it from wells near Armyansk. According to Gordeev, excessive depletion of wells was the cause of harmful emissions. “The water in the wells is already too saline, it has a high content of minerals, and this leads to uncontrolled reactions during the production process,” he argues, citing data from a study conducted in the region. The only solution to the problem, according to the Kherson governor, is to stop the plant and, of course, de-occupy Crimea.
The environmental problem at the border, despite its locality and insufficient study, in a matter of days turned into a reason for loud political statements. Even in the first week, the representative of the Ukrainian President in Crimea, Boris Babin from Kherson, reported on possible chemical weapons tests in Armyansk. Chairman of the Mejlis and deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Refat Chubarov (Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction) called the situation with emissions a targeted “ecocide against Ukrainians in Crimea.” On September 5, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine expressed the opinion that the settling tanks with waste from the Crimean Titan were damaged on August 13-19 as a result of being hit by shells during Russian army exercises in northern Crimea.
Complaints about “Crimean Titan” to the UN
However, all these statements do little to solve the issue of air pollution. The press service of the Group DF holding of Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, which owns the plant, did not respond to DW’s request about the causes of the emissions.
In the end, the protests of the residents of Armyansk forced the authorities of the peninsula on September 4 to urgently evacuate several hundred children from the city to the sanatorium of the South Coast. On the same day, Sergei Aksenov promised to suspend production at Crimean Titan for two weeks.
But the next day in Preobrazhenka, the chairman of the Mirny United Territorial Community, Andrei Suchok, shows from the window of his office the chimneys of the plant, quietly smoking, despite promises and political speeches.
“Are they writing petitions? And that's all for me? How can I help? - he asks local residents writing appeals at the first-aid post. - Although, of course, it’s good that they write. Maybe today they will come from Kherson and intervene.”
Without an official conclusion from doctors and environmentalists, they cannot even close schools and kindergartens for quarantine. Despite this, in the morning, cleaners wash off rusty deposits from horizontal bars and swings at children's playgrounds with soap. During the midday heat, children are asked not to leave the premises.
According to the Commissioner for the Observance of the Rights of Residents of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ismail Khalikov, on September 4, Ukraine turned to international organizations, in particular the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, with information about chemical releases at the Crimean Titan.
Moscow. 4 September. website - The authorities of Crimea, due to exceeding the maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide in the north of the peninsula, will stop the work of a large chemical plant - a branch of Titanium Investments LLC in Armyansk - for two weeks. The head of the republic, Sergei Aksenov, announced this to reporters on Tuesday.
“Tonight, due to changes in temperatures, for the first time, the maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide exceeded the norm. In agreement with the management of the Titan plant, I decided to stop the enterprise for two weeks. Second: for preventive purposes, send all children of school and preschool age to rest in our Crimean sanatoriums," Aksenov said, noting that nothing threatens the health and lives of citizens, and this is being done for precautionary purposes until decision algorithms are developed.
He also said that the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, had arrived in Crimea.
Since August 24, residents of Armyansk have been on social networks about a yellow coating similar to rust that has covered car parts, fences, gas water heaters, keys, dishes and metal jewelry. In addition, the leaves on the trees turn yellow and fall off prematurely. Some city residents report rashes and vomiting in children, and also complain of a sore throat and sore throat.
According to the Armenian branch of Titanium Investments LLC (a large chemical plant producing titanium dioxide), there were no emergency situations at the enterprise.
In Krasnoperekopsk, adjacent to Armyansk, the Brom enterprise and the Crimean soda plant are located. They denied their involvement in the appearance of strange rust.
Rospotrebnadzor of deviations in air and soil samples taken this week in the north of Crimea.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean government Igor Mikhailichenko recently stated that the cause of the chemical fallout in Armyansk was the evaporation of the contents of an acid storage tank used by a branch of Titanium Investments. According to him, this “was facilitated by a prolonged increase in air temperature, a prolonged lack of precipitation, as well as a decrease in the water level in the acid reservoir.” The plant administration may be held administratively liable.
Titanium Investments LLC (Moscow) was registered in June 2014. In the summer of the same year, the property of the Crimean Titan plant (Armensk, Crimea) was transferred to him for a long-term lease. Now this enterprise is called the Armenian branch of Titanium Investments LLC.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Titanium Investments LLC belongs to the Cypriot Letan Investments Limited, which is also known as the founder of the holding company of Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash Group DF International GmbH (Austria).
At the same time, in 2014, the Ukrainian PJSC Crimean Titan was re-registered from Armyansk to Kyiv, then Group DF renamed it Ukrainian Chemical Products.
