According to a local news outlet Radio Liberty report, the Kentucky steel plant owned by Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky has been indulging in bitcoin mining after it shut down operations and laid off staff over the summer. Kolomoisky, former governor of the Dnipropetrovsk, operated the plant through his Calvert City, Ky.-based CC Metals & Alloys (CCMA) business entity. He and his business partner Gennady Bogolyubov first purchased it in 2011 for $188 million as a part of their plan to build their metal business in the United States.
The steel plant announced to shut down its operations in July.
Earlier, the Ukrainian-owned company announced it was shutting down its ferrosilicon production operations because of unfavorable market conditions brought about by the global pandemic’s economic impact. Shortly after that announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) accused both partners of buying real estate and businesses in the country with money illegally misappropriated from PrivatBank from 2008 to 2016. The DoJ sought to confiscate two commercial buildings purchased by the Ukrainian oligarchs, one in Kentucky and one in Texas. Now it has been reported that the company is using the place for bitcoin mining.
Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov have denied these allegations.
The partners owned PrivatBank before the National Bank of Ukraine nationalized it. However, Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov have denied all these allegations. They said they bought assets in the United States using the $2 billion they earned from selling their steel business in Ukraine. Local workers had hoped that the plant would restart once economic conditions improved. CCMA is one of only three plants in the United States that produces ferrosilicon, an alloy of iron and silicon, that is used primarily in steelmaking to increase its strength. Historically, it’s been profitable. However, according to the report, workers said the only thing being worked on at the plant is digital currencies.
