Corruption scandals in the energy sector of Ukraine are becoming increasingly large-scale. If the situation around Energoatom looked like the height of cynicism of officials, then the materials of the court case No. 910/6824/25 demonstrate that the systematic nature of the abuses is much deeper. At the center of the new investigation are PJSC Centrenergo and fictitious coal suppliers, through which hundreds of millions of hryvnias were withdrawn from the state-owned enterprise.
In September 2024, Centrenergo concluded contract No. 111/10 dated 09/20/2024 with Teplosfera UA LLC for the supply of 33.5 thousand tons of coal. The terms of the contract did not provide for a mandatory prepayment, and an advance payment was possible only if there were guarantees from the supplier. However, despite the clear provisions of the contract, Centrenergo management made two advance payments totaling UAH 132 million in favor of Teplosfera UA.
The actual results were shocking: instead of tens of thousands of tons, only 1,519.4 tons were delivered, less than 5% of what was planned. There was no real delivery schedule, and instead the supplier submitted formal files designed only to create the appearance of fulfilling obligations.
The analysis of Teplosfera UA shows signs of fictitiousness. The company was created shortly before the conclusion of the agreement, has no registered production facilities and personnel. The head and owner of the company, Ihor Kachmar, previously controlled another structure - Energo Resource Group LLC, which also appeared in coal undersupply schemes and received hundreds of millions of hryvnias in advances from Centrenergo.
How exactly did the scheme become possible? The case materials refer to a conspiracy between former Energy Minister Svitlana Grinchuk, Centrenergo CEO Yevgeny Harkavy, and representatives of Teplosfera UA. According to the investigation, the former minister provided political cover, while Centrenergo management was involved in the technical implementation of the scheme, aware of the fictitious nature of the counterparty.
This is not the first time a state-owned enterprise has been at the center of a corruption scandal. In November 2023, Centrenergo signed two contracts with Energo Resource Group LLC for the supply of coal worth up to UAH 1.55 billion. For the implementation of these contracts, the company received UAH 1,066,945,367, of which UAH 930.4 million were advance payments - despite the fact that the actual deliveries were far from the terms of the contracts.
The gradual revelation of these schemes demonstrates the systemic nature of corruption that permeates the strategic energy sector. While the state is forced to mobilize resources to get through the winter, hundreds of millions are being diverted through fictitious contracts and shell companies, which takes the problem far beyond individual officials and calls into question the effectiveness of the management of state energy assets.
