On September 28, The New York Times published (https://goo.gl/sx3u7R) the article “Two North Korean Spies, a Ukrainian Jail and a Murky Tale”.
Among other things, the article contains the statement that YUZHMASH refused to accept a reporter from the newspaper (quotation: “… the Yuzhmash factory declined to receive a reporter from the paper”).
In this regard, YUZHMASH declares the following.
On August 29, YUZHMASH has received unsigned email with an alleged request from The New York Times to arrange a visit to the company for its representative Mr. Andrew Higgins. It should be noted that this email was slovenly designed and has the errors in the text. In addition to the request for a visit, the email contains a list of the topics of interest for the journalist and some of the topics were directly related to the security structure to protect the company against the stealing the documentation or engines. The email also stated that that a contact person is Mrs. Julia Mendel and her contact email address is the one which is registered on the public postal service gmail.com.
On the same day, on August 29, a representative of YUZHMASH contacted Mrs. Yulia Mendel and informed that YUZHMASH is ready to accept the journalist, subject to compliance with the established procedure. In particular, the necessary explanations were given on the essence of the current requirements and the necessary actions to visit YUZHMASH. As a result of the conversation, the representative of The New York Times assured that she fully understands the information received and she announced about her intention to apply directly to the State Space Agency of Ukraine. After that the representatives of publisher did not contact the company any more.
The above-listed indicates that the information contained in the publication of The New York Times about the alleged YUZHMASH refusal to accept the journalist does not correspond with reality. YUZHMASH has no information about the reasons for Andrew Higgins’ refusal to visit the company and it may only say that it did its best for the organization of this visit.
Additionally, YUZHMASH informs that the company’s security system against the stealing of documentation or engines does exist.
At the same time, in order to prevent the reduction of its effectiveness, no additional information about security system structure will be not reported to the press or to the public.
Department of Marketing Communications of YUZHMASH
+38 (0562) 35-53-23, 38-63-43
