Such a unique place cannot be found in the entire post-Soviet space. The airfield near the village of Shiroke was famous throughout the Union. Young pilots were trained here, parachutists jumped. Now the base has turned into a dustbin of history, and the planes are sold for scrap to pay off the company’s debts.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – May 22, 2021 – Reports
The once famous airfield, whose territory covers 300 hectares, now more resembles the scenery for disaster films. Mi-8 – helicopters, which are included in the list of the most massive models in the history of aviation. They are still in service with Ukrainian aviation. But the rotary-winged ones that are here are never destined to get off the ground. The only thing they can be useful for is to be scrapped.
Near the airfield, there are hangars where equipment was once repaired. Now there are storage boxes with backup engines, which had been in the open air for more than 20 years.
The only thing that has survived in relatively good condition is the two-kilometer runway. But due to the unaffordable amount that is needed to restore the operation of the entire airfield, it is unlikely to ever start functioning as intended. Every month, the company’s debt increases by 50,000 hryvnias only because of the land tax.
“The regional tax inspectorate has taken these planes as a pledge and sells them to pay off the debt, ” said Vladimir Didik, the acting director of the Zaporizhzhia Pokryshkin Flight Training Center, about the situation.
According to Vladimir, planes flew thirty years ago, then they had to be sold. Now the technique has turned into scrap metal. If this were done, the airfield would continue to exist, and the state received income.
But despite the difficult situation, the aircraft cemetery has a chance to get a second life: for this, it is planned to transfer it to public utilities. There are already those who wish – Shirokovskaya OTG. The place can become a very attractive location for tourists.
Negotiations are underway on the implementation of the plan with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
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Source: Ukrgate
