“Zolotaya Balka” pays taxes both to Ukraine and to the “annexed Crimea” – owner
Sevastopol - Kyiv, June 26 (Navigator, Vladimir Mikhailov) - The owner of Zolotaya Balka, Petr Ustenko, intends to maintain the work of the agricultural holding in Sevastopol, despite the current difficulties due to the change of ownership of Crimea. The company has not yet been registered as Russian.
“It is still in Ukraine, there is a dual situation there, we are forced to pay taxes here and there,” Ustenko told Navigator.
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Production will not be transferred to continental Ukraine. “The uniqueness of this enterprise is that it has a closed cycle. The enterprise is fully integrated with the business cycle, i.e. work cannot be stopped for a single day. Everything we make is entirely from grapes grown by ourselves. If we started with 30 thousand bottles per year at a price of 5 UAH, then we reached sales of up to 10.5 million per year with an average price of 78 UAH.
We have no powder, no chemicals, no water, or any other ingredients. We did not work for the mass consumer; our champagne belongs to the high-class category. This causes certain problems today, because today the market is actually Crimea and Russia. These are slightly different parameters, different standards and requirements,” says Petr Ustenko.
Zolotaya Balka is not afraid of the squatters from which Crimean companies are now suffering. “Our trademark has been taken outside of Crimea and is protected by international law,” says Pyotr Ustenko.
The enterprise does not feel pressure from the new authorities. “To be honest, today there are all sorts of misunderstandings, but I think that this is within acceptable limits. We have misunderstandings that have always been present in Ukraine. One power comes, then another, misunderstanding arises, then it goes away, but at the moment the line has not been crossed, there is a dialogue. Today our enterprise is one of the city-forming enterprises in Sevastopol. It employs 980 people. It’s easy to bring it down, but where will so many people be employed? While we were on the territory of Ukraine, before the annexation, our salary was one of the highest in Sevastopol. Of course, today there are problems with sales and with excise stamps...”
Petr Ustenko is confident that Zolotaya Balka will continue to operate in any case. “We want to save the enterprise. I understand that today we are hostages of the situation that exists there. It is not me who runs the business, but my son who runs the business; he is in the process of negotiations and is engaged in resolving conflicts that may arise. But I hope that we will preserve the enterprise that we created from scratch, or at least transfer it to good hands. Unless, of course, there is opposition. There must be a mutual desire here,” says the owner.
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