In Lviv, they are unable to launch a plant for the construction of which the EU spent half a million euros
In November 2016, Ukraine’s first plant for processing fluorescent lamps was officially launched at the State Enterprise “Bodnarivka” in the Lviv region. The Minister of Ecology Ostap Semerak personally came to the opening of a modern European-style plant, worth about half a million euros. However, the rosy prospects dissipated. The plant is idle today, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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Olga Lavna, director of the Bodnarivka State Enterprise, said this in an interview with UNN.
According to her, the latest technologies are not in demand due to the lack of conditions for fair competition in Ukraine. Since the main criterion in tenders for the disposal of hazardous waste is price, unscrupulous participants set ultra-low prices and, thereby, force honest players out of the market. Usually, after such tenders, mercury lamps are found somewhere in forest plantations or in the open air, but, nevertheless, no one regulates this issue.
“Of course, there should be normal competition. And, first of all, we need to check those companies that collect hazardous waste. Those who, when participating in a tender, pay meager sums for services,” she said.
The cost of recycling one mercury lamp cannot cost less than two hryvnia, however, there are tender participants who significantly dump, Lavna emphasized.
“As we did not consider, recycling one mercury lamp below two hryvnia is simply unrealistic. But some companies allow themselves to accept waste for example at 1,5 UAH. For example, there is such an Odessa company, we had an agreement with them, and then it was broken because they didn’t deliver a single lamp to us in a year,” she said.
Changing the requirements for holding tenders in the Prozorro public procurement system would significantly improve the situation, Lavna is sure.
“Now there are many intermediary companies that, for example, charge the enterprise 8-9 UAH for recycling a lamp, but they sell it to us for a much lower price. Because we have an approved price of 4,99 UAH and 3,99 UAH is economy. And, accordingly, in order for us to be at least somehow competitive, the session of the city council allowed us to participate through a tender and reduce the price to the maximum possible, which is economically justified. So that at least the cost goes to zero. I think that the authorities should understand that intermediary enterprises earn quite good money,” Lavna said.
The head of the Bondarivka State Enterprise added that the company had already approached the Minister of Ecology with this problem, but there was no backlash. Therefore, she calls on the authorities to pay attention to the problem.
“I think that the authorities and the Ministry, in particular the relevant one, should control and check all this. Journalists have repeatedly made investigations that the lamps are lying somewhere in the open air, even broken, and the company, like a ghost, has only a legal address. There are many such cases,” she emphasized.
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