A scandal is unfolding at Ukrnafta related to an attempt to conceal large-scale theft of petroleum products on the territory of the state-owned enterprise. According to sources, the team of former director Serhiy Koretsky is trying to legally cover up the traces of the schemes that have been operating since 2023, in particular through a lawsuit against the private enterprise Everest O.
Formally, this is a commercial dispute, but in fact, it is an attempt to shift responsibility for the disappearance of about 6.5–7 thousand tons of petroleum products onto the counterparty. The lawsuit was filed on November 26, 2025, with the Commercial Court of Poltava Region. According to the contract dated February 18, 2023, Everest O provided fuel security and maintenance services, and the claimed losses amount to approximately UAH 230 million.
At the same time, the actual scale of the "losses" is much greater. In 2023, Ukrnafta's CFO Yuriy Tkachuk publicly reported the absence of primary documents for the shipment of oil products worth UAH 5.6 billion. This indicates the probable participation of the company's management in the scheme or, at least, tolerance of illegal operations.
Of particular interest is the episode with the supply of fuel to the Ministry of Defense. Under the same contract, Everest O participated in the supply of gasoline and distillates for military equipment. In 2023, the Ministry of Defense fined Ukrnafta UAH 3.7 million for the supply of low-quality fuel. Despite this, the company paid the fine, but the issue of the responsibility of the organizers of the scheme was not raised.
The Everest O scheme coincided with the emergence of Koretsky’s family business, Ukrainian Fuel Standard, registered in the name of his wife’s relative. In parallel with the Everest O agreement, the company received contracts worth about UAH 300 million, despite its lack of experience and infrastructure.
According to experts, choosing a "commercial dispute" instead of criminal proceedings allows to hide the crimes and avoid the liability of Ukrnafta officials. The true scale of the embezzlement and the participation of the company's management may be much greater than stated in the lawsuit.
