On the eve of the Builder’s Day which is celebrated on August 12 this year, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine summed up the Contest for the best homes and buildings constructed and put into operation during 2011. During the annual event architects and builders select the winning projects in 9 nominations: apartment building, industrial building, religious and engineering structures. Anatoliy Blyznyuk, the Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, informed about it during a briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on August 8. He stressed, “The public recognition has always been a part of success, a locomotive for further progress. The recognition by both ordinary citizens and professionals of architecture and urban planning is the main stimulus for improvement. The construction sector must follow the example of its best representatives constantly. We have modern buildings to be proud of.” The results were announced on August 10 during the festivities on the occasion of the Builder’s Day in the Ukrainian cultural center “Zhovtnevyy Palats”. 58 structures from 21 regions of Ukraine, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Kyiv and Sevastopol’ cities were introduced at the contest this year. The winners were representatives of 14 regions: 6 nominees were construction and design organizations from Kyiv, 5 architects from Vinnytsya region and 5 architects from Rivne region. Dnipropetrovs’k, Donets’k, Lviv, and Chernivtsi regions presented 4 facilities each. Other regions presented 1-2 facilities each. The festivities started from a salutatory address of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov. He also read the letter of salutation from the President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych. The chairman of the government presented government awards – orders, the honorary titles “Honored builder of Ukraine” and the Honorary Degrees of the Cabinet of Ministers and Anatoliy Blyznyuk, the branch minister, continued to congratulate the best architects of the country. “Teteriv” branch of “NIBULON”, the complex on acceptance, storage and shipment of grain and oil crops, won in the nomination “Facilities of farm building”. The minister presented Sergiy Besedin, the Deputy General Director for construction, with the honored diploma and statuette. The festivities came to an end with the gala concert. The General Director of “NIBULON” Oleksiy Vadaturskyy congratulates all the builders on their professional holiday! An interview of Sergiy Besedin with the newspaper “Agroprofi” is for your attention Conductor of a construction orchestra “NIBULON’s” Deputy General Director for construction, the winner of the State Prize of Ukraine for Architecture  – Sergiy Besedin is not a random person in the construction. His grandfather and parents were builders too. When he was a teenage he “tasted” the work of a builder having helped his mother to plaster. But other roads were open to him – Sergiy could become a military pilot but the family tradition overpowered.  Probably, in my childhood I did not realize the specificity of a building profession and its complicacy but I always liked that builders create something good”, he says. It is good that Segriy Besedin followed his parents. Despite the military pilot profession is romantic but there remain ruins after their “work”, builders leave behind life. Having served in the army Sergiy graduated from Odesa Engineering and Construction Institute where he got a construction engineering degree. He studied “farm construction” where he was taught to build not only farms and elevators but also hydro-engineering structures. Knowledge that he got there helped him later during the construction of the transshipment terminals. On the eve of the Ukrainian Builder’s Day which is celebrated on the second Sunday of August we met with Segriy Besedin to discuss difficult and wonderful professiont. – Sergiy Vasylovych, do you remember your first constructed facility? – My first building was a school for 1200 persons which was built in 1988 in Dzhankoy district of Crimea. At that time in my native Mykolayiv city schools were built but the school which was constructed by us was a unique one: besides classrooms it had a swimming pool, two gyms – playing and gymnastic one, a separate building for six-year old children where there were bedrooms next to classrooms. At that time there was established an education reform and our school was one of the first. The constructed building impressed me and I realized that I can construct. From the architecture point of view the school was beautiful. When on September 1 children came to the new school and could not hide their admiration I was very proud of myself. – How did you start to cooperate with “NIBULON”? – In 2002 I worked in one of the contract organizations which constructed Kolosovs’kyy elevator in Mykolayiv region then together with “NIBULON” we started to construct Mykolayiv transshipment terminal of the company. At this facility I started with the first peg – firstly as a contractor. And then as a customer because in 2004 I started to work in “NIBULON” as the head of the capital construction department at first and since 2005 – as the Deputy General Director for construction. – How many facilities have been built since then? What facilities do you remember the most and why? – It is even hard to count all the facilities. We have constructed 22 elevators, and there are also production units where we also construct, perform capital repair and reconstruction. The most impressive facility is the Mykolayiv transshipment terminal – a unique facility not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. It was interesting to construct the terminal to look at the results of our work. I also remember the construction of Novoodesa river terminal. Probably, the South region is not associated with swamps but when we came at the construction site there was a real swamp there. We had to ram in about 5 thousand of piles, earthed 500 thousand cubic meters of soil. As a result the whole territory of the terminal raised by more than 2.5 m above the water level of Southern Bug river. We had a lot of work to do but the facility is of great value because our forces, knowledge and experience allowed to overcome all obstacles. This year such a complicated facility was the transshipment complex in Kozats’ke village, Kherson region which was built within the patriotic investment project of “NIBULON” on the revival of the Dnipro and the Southern Bug rivers as transport waterways. Before our arrival at the site earlier there were several companies, including asphalt and concrete plant, plant of ferroconcrete items. The site is located on rocky soils that are not typical for our area. Hydro-geological conditions were also difficult as the level of groundwater is higher then the water level in the Dnipro river. We had to overcome all these unfavourable conditions. The more obstacles we have during the construction the bigger joy we have after overcoming of these obstacles. – Construction, first of all, is a complicated organizational process when it is necessary to control numerous groups, to coordinate with controversial issues, to accumulate different points of view. In what way do you build relations in the team? Are you an authoritarian manager or you accept democracy? – I think that democracy is not a permissiveness, everything must be in order. It is clear that it is impossible to make decisions alone – the team works. We listen to all points of view and choose the best one. We have highly professional team and we would like to thank Oleksiy Vadaturskyy, the founder and the General Director, Hero of Ukraine. I thank him for his trust and support as I lead the large construction team, we invest many-millioned investments. Vadaturskyy is an experienced director, a born organizer: he can support and help, set a task correctly and then control its performance. To set a task is only half the work, it is necessary to control its implementation and in case of misunderstanding to explain, and to help if necessary. Oleksiy Opanasovych likes the construction activity very much that is why he never refuses to help or to advise. Besides, he knows exactly what positions personnel should occupy in order to bring benefit to themselves and to the company. Oleksiy Vadaturskyy is not afraid of trusting people and his trust is worth a lot! – Tens of contract organizations and thousands of people are engaged in the construction of one facility. How did you manage to find reliable partners? Do you employ “local personnel” during the construction? – Really, there are companies which have been cooperating with us since 2002 and there are companies which joined us later. Geography of our construction activity covers almost the whole territory of our country, our task is to involve construction organizations of those region where we work. Therefore we involve “local personnel” and analyze if they can endure our conditions. Our conditions are quite simple, such as quality, term, price. As you can see we do not require anything supernatural. If people are professionals they can ensure quality, terms, and the price must be competitive. Purchase of services on the construction is performed transparently, at the tender, all information is on the website. Everyone can participate in tender. First of all we check the company, its material and technical resources, facilities built by the company and then we decide. Unfortunately, there are cases when an organization exists only on paper but wants to carry out large scope of works. The professionals, as a rule, stay with us and those who can not endure our conditions leave. It should be mentioned that the dropout percent is not high. During many years of close cooperation there was created the backbone of the company to which we trust. We can go on a recce with them without hesitation, they will not do us a bad turn. They are “Zhytlobud-NIKO” of Mykolayiv city (director – Sergiy Nazarenko), “Astarta Mlynelevatorbud” of Kharkiv city (director – Ivan Tolstov), “Transvit” of Pryluky town (director – Sergiy Selyutin), “Poltavaspetsmontazh” (director – Valentyn Lukin), “Dnipropetrovs’k construction and mounting organization” (director – Pavlo Malyutov), “Center of wireframe construction” of Dnipropetrovs’k city (director – Mykhaylo Shtompel’), Mykolayiv plant of ferroconcrete items (director –  Victor Kislichenko), PDSP-10 (director – Yuriy Galkin) and it is not the whole list. I name only some of them but thousands of organizations work with us. Those who have cooperated with us once continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with us with pleasure. We try to help them, to prompt, to direct when something goes wrong. Due to this the team is established and the level of quality of construction in regions of Ukraine increases simultaneously. Sometimes we come to regions, for example, to Kozats’ke village, Kherson region, where in the territory of Beryslav district there was constructed none of normal facility for the last 20 years. The construction sector is in a pitiful condition there. – Were there any force-majeure incidents during the construction of facilities? – Although the construction is a regulated process and the design and searching works, examination of projects are performed first of all, nevertheless it can be stated that this process is dynamic. And while having all the required documents and examinations there are no guaranties that everything will be the same as stated in documentation. Sometimes soils are nonhomogeneous and groundwater occurrence is unexpected. We have the professional team therefore we can overcome everything. Difficult conditions were in Kozats’ke village, Nova Odesa town but knowledge, experience and persistence allowed us to cope with them. – How long do preparatory works last? – Frankly speaking, the construction itself, i.e. carrying out physical volume of works,  is only a visible part of an iceberg. It is only a third of forces and time which are necessary to perform the whole complex of works. It starts with a land plot allotment and ends with putting into operation of a facility. Due to our ‘wonderful” land laws sometimes it takes years to get a plot.  Only recently thanks to an assistance of Anatoliy Prysyazhnyuk, the Head of Kyiv Regional State Administration, Oleksandr Udovychenko, the Head of Poltava Regional State Administration, Mykola Kostyak, the Head of Kherson Regional State Administration, lands were allotted quickly. Earlier it took us several years of persistent work to get the permission to perform works. – You construct supermodern elevator complexes in three times faster than provided by the standards. How could you reach such a phenomenal speed and whether this speed influences on construction quality? – Yes, we construct facilities in three months, other companies would construct them in nine months. Why do we manage to do it? Firstly, we manage to construct fast due to the right organization of a process. Secondly, we have already constructed twenty-two terminals! Consequently our team (30 persons of engineering staff, builders) and contract organizations accumulated a huge experience. Reduction of construction terms is due to uninterrupted work of all organizations. There are no downtimes, everyone make its work and leave the site for a successor. Concerning quality, as I told earlier quality is our first requirement for contractors. The technology of construction is followed completely. And if concrete foundations must “ripen” 28 days, they will be laid according to the required terms. Why do we construct so fast? Because “NIBULON”, first of all, is an agricultural company and we realize that if the elevator is not ready to accept a crop yield then it will be empty during the whole year. Therefore in Zhytomyr region the elevator was ready to accept corn, and in Kherson region – to accept early grain crops. Thus, the builders at our facilities work intensively, labour productivity is about 120%. Works are carried out 24 hours and 7 days a week. But it does not mean that people do not have vacations or days-off, our contractors have enough personnel to perform rotation of workers. It is obviously that people can not work 12 hours a day, without vacations for a long time. There will be no qualitative work because of tiredness. Industrial injuries will increase greatly. And now I can say that at our facilities we have a minimal level of industrial injuries and there were no serious damages or lethal outcomes. – Please, tell in detail for what services you were honored with the State Prize of Ukraine for Architecture. – In 2008 the group of creators of the transshipment terminal in Mykolayiv city under the leadership of the General Director Oleksiy Vadaturskyy was honored with this State Prize. This facility is worthy of admiration. In 2004 it was recognized as the best facility built in Ukraine. This terminal is a visit card of not only “NIBULON” but also Mykolayiv city and the whole Ukraine. When foreign delegations visit the terminal they can see the level of development of our country, craftsmanship and talent of our builders. The facilities built by “NIBULON” obtained wide recognition. The next award is a victory in the Contest for the best buildings and structures built and put into operation in the territory of Ukraine in 2011 that was carried out by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine. In the nomination “Facilities of farm building” the winner was the complex on acceptance, storage and shipment of grain and oils crops of “NIBULON” which was built in Velyki Korovyntsi village, Chudnivs’kyy district of Zhytomyr region. – “NIBULON” comes to an open field and leaves behind the supermodern high tech facility for needs of agrarians of the region. What do locals get? – Well, it is good if we come to an open field. For example, in Denyhivka village, Kyiv region, we came to a dump, in Pereyaslav – Khmel’nyts’kyy town – there were ravines on the shore of the Dnipro river. We had to clear natural and anthropogenic obstructions and then to start the construction. Certainly, we improve the adjacent territory – in Globyno town of Poltava district, for example, we cleared the lake and now the wedding processions come here to be photographed. We bring high technologies, create work places and new method of production. “NIBULON’s” facilities are visited by children to be shown the construction process in Ukraine. As village life is dilapidating now, there are places where there remain only ruins of a village club. It is very important to show children something good. They should be surrounded with beauty and they will grow into normal citizens. There is the law according to which we must allocate costs for the social infrastructure development of settlements where we conduct construction. We comply with the law but these payments are not the only contribution to the social sphere. Traditionally, in a settlement where we construct the elevator we also repair school, kindergarten, club. As a rule, a school receives a computer classroom and “NIBULON” becomes a sponsor of it: gives presents on the Knowledge Day, etc. We repair roads and reconstruct outer lighting. Our field of activity is wider than the requirements of the current legislation. Our contribution to the social development is the prior obligation and not a part of imminent expenses for construction. It is a principal position of our General Director Oleksiy Vadaturskyy. Besides construction the company allocates UAH 15 mln per year for different social projects. We take care of children who will grow and come to our company. We want them to grow in beauty, study with the help of modern equipment in order to become educated persons. Hence the new aesthetics was established by us at our terminals. It is not obligatory to have fountains and flower-beds with roses at the elevator. But we want our people to work in beauty. Therefore we try to create conditions which will be pleasant for the personnel at the facility. Besides, our partners (suppliers, directors of agricultural companies, drivers of grain trucks, etc), and thousands of people visit our facilities. We think that it is pleasant to contemplate flower-beds and fountains than just asphalt. Consequently, people’s mood change when they enter the elevator. To build flower-beds and fountains is not obligatory and is very expensive but smiles of people are priceless. – Are there any companies in the world that construct their facilities as fast as «NIBULON”? – I do not know such statistics but we cooperate with many foreign companies – American, Holland, Danish, German companies and their representatives often visit our facilities. Firstly, when we made schedules of delivery of equipment and contract supervision they did not believe that equipment would be necessary according to the specified terms taken into account the real state of affairs at the site. But the specified data came and they saw with surprise that everything was ready. Our partners said that while working in many countries of the world they have never seen the construction to be carried out so fast. Thus foreigners are not only surprised but also admire by our paces, quality of construction and professionalism of our builders. – During an opening of the transshipment complex in Pereyaslav-Khmel’nyts’kyy town Oleksiy Vadaturskyy said that he was proposed to construct elevators in the countries where “NIBULON” delivers grain. Is your construction subdivision ready to enter the international level? – These offers are at the stage of negotiations now but in case of positive decision we are ready to construct facilities in any country. Taking into account reviews of our foreign partners, we will make the competition to the world construction companies. I do not think someone can construct such facilities better than we do.