The largest plant in Chernihiv in the past was declared bankrupt

On September 17, the Economic Court of Chernihiv Region declared Chernihiv Radio Devices Plant PJSC (CheZaRa) bankrupt and initiated the company’s liquidation procedure, according to the court register.

Founded in the 1960s, CheZaRa was part of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry. During the 1970s and 1980s, the plant employed up to 10,000–12,000 people, making it the largest employer in Chernihiv. It produced radar systems, missile and aircraft control units, and military and space electronics.

After 2014, the company lost most of its defense contracts and gradually shut down. By the time of bankruptcy, CheZaRa had accumulated over UAH 95 million in debts, including UAH 74.8 million owed to the State Tax Service. With no assets remaining to repay its creditors and no investor in sight, the liquidation procedure was approved by creditors on July 29, 2025.

The decision effectively marks the end of CheZaRa as a legal entity. Remaining assets will be sold to partially settle debts.

In its later years, the plant manufactured electronic devices and components for armored vehicles, supplying Kyiv’s Kuznya na Rybalskomu, Kyiv and Zhytomyr armored plants, and the Kharkiv Machine Building Design Bureau. Before 2014, Russia had been the company’s main customer. CheZaRa also maintained a civilian production line, including outdoor lanterns.

Official sources indicate that production effectively ceased around 2019–2020. In August 2020, investor Anatoliy Dolesko reported that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine had not signed new contracts with the plant for over a year, "finally stopping production," and that assets were being sold to cover outstanding obligations. At that time, the plant’s facilities spanned 160,000 square meters. Plans to create an industrial park on the site were proposed by then-mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko.

By 2025, company records showed only one power distribution building, five underground shelters, several old tractors and excavators, and a 0.23-hectare plot of land.

After production ceased, a new company, CheZaRa Telemetry LLC, was established in January 2018 based on CheZaRa, with Dolesko’s wife as the main beneficiary. The company manufactures electronic equipment and reported UAH 31 million in revenue for 2024, with a net profit of less than UAH 1 million, according to LIGA360.

• Separately, on October 1, the Commercial Court of Dnipropetrovs’k Region initiated a preventive restructuring procedure for the private joint-stock company Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), owned by Olexandr Yaroslavskyi.