Former deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration Oleksandr Skakun, together with his brother Yuriy, are linked to a network of companies through which fuel schemes have been operating in the Kharkiv region for years. At the center of this story is Brent Oil LLC, through which, according to sources, low-quality fuel is supplied to municipal enterprises of the city and region. Formally, everything looks like ordinary public procurement, but behind the scenes of tenders lies an entire industry of shadow income.
The essence of the model is simple and cynical at the same time. Structures controlled by each other enter the auction, creating the appearance of competition. The winner is the “right” company, and the price of fuel set in the tender is significantly overstated compared to the market price. At the same time, the quality of fuel often turns out to be lower than stated in the documents. Part of the resources that, according to the papers, should be used, for example, for the construction and repair of roads, ends up in retail sale at ordinary gas stations. According to the interlocutors, excise duties and taxes are either not paid in full or are minimized through fictitious transactions. The remaining amount settles in the “shadow” in the form of cashed funds.
An important role in this scheme is played by a number of affiliated structures related to the Brent Oil group. In various tenders, Brent-Invest, Garantor, Brent Oil-98, Naftokhimsnab and other legal entities appear. They are constantly changing, flowing into each other, but the actual beneficiaries, according to sources, remain the same. Control over utility and road purchases ensures a stable flow of budget money, and the presence of political and force influence in the region creates a kind of "protective dome" for this network.
It is the influence of Skakun on the security structures of the Kharkiv region, which our interlocutors talk about, that is often called the key explanation for the lack of real consequences for the organizers of the schemes. Tax and law enforcement agencies have been receiving signals about possible abuses for years, but the case usually does not go beyond formal inspections or "buried" proceedings. As a result, according to unofficial estimates, hundreds of millions of hryvnias are withdrawn through such structures every year.
In parallel with the story of Brent Oil, there is another high-profile fuel case - the activities of the Merefyansk oil refinery, which is associated with businessman Konstantin Valeulin. According to sources, the plant specializes in the production of low-quality diesel fuel, which is gradually "whitened" through complex chains of intermediaries. On paper, it turns into a completely legal product, but in fact remains "adulterated" fuel that does not meet the declared standards.
This activity is supported by cash-out schemes and VAT "scrolls". Legal entities with signs of fictitiousness, including "Bitoksid", "Svey", the same "Garantor" and other companies, are used to register fictitious deliveries, create artificial tax credits and withdraw funds in cash. Over the years of the existence of such schemes, according to market estimates, tens of millions of hryvnias of "black" cash have passed through the Merefansky Oil Refinery.
Both stories – both Brent Oil and the Merefyansky Refinery – have the same logic: influential groups gain access to tenders and budget funds, build a network of affiliated companies around them, convert state money into cash, while tax authorities and law enforcement agencies either turn a blind eye or demonstrate only an imitation of the struggle. Media investigations, scandals, public statements from time to time bring these schemes to the surface, but without political will and coordinated actions of the law enforcement system, the risks for participants in such transactions remain minimal compared to the profits received.
Against this background, the fuel market is turning into one of the most persistent shadow "feeders", where the interests of local elites, business groups and individual representatives of law enforcement agencies intersect. The only question is whether the state will finally be ready to break this closed cycle, in which the names of companies will change, but not the mechanics of earning on low-quality fuel and budget tenders.
