The source of Melnichenko’s fortune is coal. We have been working on this topic for a long time and have released detailed summaries on Russian coal industry And the impact of coal on the environment and human health. In short, coal is the worst source of energy. A simple example: residents of the Kemerovo region live 3-4 years less than the average Russian due to coal dust. The formal cheapness of coal generation is due only to the fact that the price does not include compensation for its consequences – restoration of ecosystems, spending on healthcare, and so on. Traditionally, profits are privatized and losses are nationalized and borne by the regional budget. And, of course, like any coal magnate, Melnichenko diligently whitewashes himself in the media (new example in Lenta.ru).
On Wikipedia, Melnichenko’s PR service has been successfully creating a positive image of the boss, EuroChem, SUEK and the top managers of these companies for ten years. There is no one to get involved in conflicts and rewrite these pangerics. Catching accounts too. Of course, in 2021 one of the key accounts Sasha-int blocked in the English section for very clumsy work, but not in the Russian section. Account Markpravda1 is active on German Wikipedia, but is still ignored by the local community. This is what we talk about all the time: we need tools for monitoring articles and users, we need a professional approach to countering disinformation (corporate and government) at the intersection of many languages.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Melnichenko’s PR team tried to ensure that European and American officials, who (of course) would make decisions on sanctions based on Wikipedia articles, had a better impression of Melnichenko. Eurochem tried to imagine as a Swiss company, from the owners of SUEK it crossed out (he transferred the assets to his wife and ended up “in the house”), he himself became philanthropistand not an oligarch.
Philanthropy is a different story. Melnichenko’s PR service is selling Wikipedia readers a story about the largest coal producer in Russia, which is headed by ESG ratingsfights greenhouse gases and leads in philanthropy. Materials about SUEK at least in Russianat least in English Wikipedia is pure greenwashing. As expected, Melnichenko is personally credited with making contributions to charity from EuroChem and SUEK. He actually has his own charitable foundationbut very small. According to reports, the fund’s budget in 2022 amounted to 400 million rubles – less than $6 million, which is cheaper than the maintenance of its sailing yacht, which was arrested in Italy in March last year.
By the way, yachts are Melnichenko’s great hobby. Over 20 years, he spent more than $700 million on the construction of two megayachts alone – motorsailer A And motor yacht A (approximately the same amounthow much Vladimir Putin spent on two famous yachts). Considering that the annual maintenance of a yacht usually costs 5% of its cost, Melnichenko spent more than a billion on yachting. But for some reason they don’t try to present him as a yachtsman.
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