Several years ago, Nakhodka became a link in the chain linking the coal mining enterprises of Siberia with ports in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Since that time, due to a serious increase in the volume of coal exports, the problem of air pollution with toxic coal dust has worsened. Today, the strength of all stevedores Nakhodka is about 55 million tons of coal per year. The equipment installed in the port to such loads was not adapted. Today, coal is overloaded by an open method without the use of modern protective equipment, and this leads to severe air and street pollution at a distance of several kilometers from the port.

New technologies of protection against coal dust in Nakhodka are being implemented at an incredibly slow pace - the companies state that they lack the money for the necessary infrastructure and limit themselves to traditional inefficient means - irrigation of coal transfer places, installation of protective screens. The words about the lack of funds to strengthen the protective measures and the effectiveness of regular watering sound rather unbelievable, but the Nakhodkin people have no choice.

For several years now, city residents have regularly complained about dusty surfaces in homes, schools, cars and ice. There are signs of an impending ecological catastrophe. However, the control bodies still say that the excess of the permissible concentration of harmful substances is found infrequently in Nakhodka, and there is no danger for the residents of the city.

The main source of black dust in Nakhodka is a large enterprise engaged in rendering services for transferring coal to shipping companies. It would seem that in order to prevent the problem, it was necessary to proceed very logically - to build a terminal in the country or, if this is not possible, to ensure the construction of a closed terminal in advance. Such a step would significantly reduce the harmful effects of carcinogen on human health. But not everything was so simple.

The company, which is actively engaged in the expansion of the coal transfer business in Nakhodka, is the Astafiev Terminal, a former Nakhodkinsky Tin-Canning Factory. Re-profiling the business was a necessary measure to save the factory from closing. In 2013, a project was presented for the construction of an intermodal "Astafiev Terminal" at the site of production, which was in a state of protracted crisis. Actually, coal handling operations were performed earlier, but did not have such a significant volume. After the approval of the project, the volume of work increased dramatically, but there was no time and money for a significant modification of the infrastructure. Then the crisis began, and no one spoke seriously about the construction of a closed terminal.

Recently, the situation of the Astafiev Terminal has begun to level off - the company's financial indicators speak about the increase in the volumes of coal transshipment in recent years. So, in 2016 the enterprise received 96.495 million rubles net profit under RAS. This is 54% more than the terminal's profit for the previous reporting period. Such growth is explained by an increase of 42% in volumes of coal passing through the terminal - in 2016 they amounted to 2.13 million tons. Also this year, the company's fixed assets increased from 505.310 million rubles to 922.474 million rubles. In 2016, the terminal sent coal for export to Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Bahrain, Oman, Indonesia and other countries.

It should be noted that, despite the objective difficulties, registration and further development of the enterprise were carried out remarkably fast. One of the reasons for this is the composition of the shareholders of OJSC Terminal Astafieva. According to the Internet edition of DV-ROSS, 23.28% of Astafiev's shares belong to Ruslan Kondratov, a former deputy of the State Duma and the son of the former head of the FSB department for Primorsky Krai. Another 28.78% of shares belong to LLC "Titul" from Vladivostok, 15.04% is owned by the fishing collective farm "Ogni Vostoka", located in the district center of Terney and also controlled by Kondratov.

Rise of Ruslan Viktorovich began in 1997, when his father, lieutenant-general of the FSB in the Primorsky Territory, Viktor Kondratov, became simultaneously an authorized representative of the president in Primorye. Ruslan Kondratov and the son-in-law of General Dmitry Dremlyuga began to make a family fish empire from the remnants of the coastal industry.

"Daily News" shows that the enterprises were brought to bankruptcy, and then the assets were distributed among a narrow circle of creditors, which often acted LLC "Akvaresursy" and "Lights of the East" - enterprises close to Kondratov and Dremlyuge. But over time, Kondratov's emphasis shifted to a more promising direction - the transportation of coal.