“The Community Decides”: The Struggle for the Chupakhiv Sugar Factory

August 24, 2006, Chupakhivka. Sumy Regional State Television and Radio Company. The program “The Community Decides” is dedicated to the local residents’ struggle to save the Chupakhivka Sugar Factory. Factory workers stage a protest against its closure and the dismantling of its equipment.

The video shows: sugar factory workers holding protest signs, the factory grounds, production buildings, and machinery. Local government officials discuss attempts to stop the dismantling, as well as appeals to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, and members of parliament. They discuss possible ways to preserve production, legal mechanisms for resolving the conflict, and negotiations with the Lipetsk Sugar Factory regarding the acquisition of the plant to resume its operations.

Commentators include: Anatoliy Raitsov, chairman of the Chupakhiv Village Council; Anatoliy Antonov, director of the Chupakhiv Sugar Factory in 1999–2000; Vitaliy Boiko, director of the Chupakhiv Sugar Factory in 1990–1995; Mykola Klymenko, a factory worker; Vasyl Strelnyk, first deputy head of the Okhtyrka District State Administration; and Oleksiy Hopko, deputy of the Okhtyrka District Council.