The state-owned enterprise "Lvivvugilya" has once again found itself at the center of a corruption scandal. After the appointment of Pavlo Ovchinnikov as acting general director in January 2025, law enforcement agencies opened a pre-trial investigation into possible embezzlement of funds during the purchase of mining equipment and the sale of coal products.
Among the suspects are Ovchinnikov himself, acting Deputy General Director for Logistics, Transport, Tenders and Sales Serhiy Starodubtsev, Director for Economics and Finance Oleksandr Abramov, and Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs Oleksiy Zherebko.
According to the investigation, the company's managers forced mine workers to sign false acceptance and transfer certificates of equipment and documents about allegedly completed repair work. In reality, these services were not provided, and the work was performed by companies controlled by Lviv Coal itself. This scheme, according to investigators, allowed the withdrawal of state funds under the guise of settlements with contractors.
According to sources, a special role in the scheme was played by Andriy Lastovychenko, Deputy Director of the Directorate for Transport, Tenders and Sales, who contacted suppliers to agree on the size of the "kickbacks".
Another element of the scam was the overestimation of the cost of employee transportation. This was done by individual entrepreneur Petro Tanchyn, who, together with related entrepreneurs, entered false amounts of services into accounting documents, thereby receiving additional budget funds.
The head of the NGO "Road Control West" Oleksandr Klimov claims that Yuriy Kamelchuk, a member of parliament from the "Servant of the People" party, may be behind the scheme, whom he calls a possible beneficiary of the withdrawal of money through fictitious documents and contractors.
The investigation is ongoing, and if the involvement of officials and politicians is proven, it will result in multi-million-dollar losses for the state-owned enterprise and possible criminal liability for the organizers.
