The National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) announced suspicion against three persons in the case of fraud with coal, which caused almost 12 million hryvnias in losses to the state energy producer.
This investigation is particularly relevant in light of the energy crisis caused by Russia's full-scale aggression.
It is about:
- former Deputy Minister of Energy (2020-2021);
- ex-deputy, ex-first deputy chairman of the Committee on Construction, Urban Development, Housing and Regional Policy of the Verkhovna Rada, beneficiary of a private company;
- ex-director of SE "Ukrvugilya".
According to the investigation, at the end of July 2022, the coal market in Ukraine was limited due to hostilities. In order to ensure a sustainable heating season of 2022/2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine obliged the State Enterprise "Ukrvugillia" to supply the energy carrier to certain electricity producers, in particular to the state-owned PJSC "Centrenergo".
Despite these restrictions, the beneficiary of a private company that had a contract with SE Ukrvugilya, in collusion with the ex-deputy minister of energy of Ukraine, persuaded the director of the SE to sell coal to his company, which also owed more than UAH 50 million to the SE. As a result, Ukrvugillia supplied the private company with almost 24,000 tons of raw materials, which it resold with a surplus of almost UAH 20 million.
At the same time, Centernergo PJSC did not receive 12.5 thousand tons of coal and was forced to buy it back in October 2022 at a much higher price, overpaying almost UAH 12 million.
According to sources, the following are suspected of fraud:
- former Deputy Minister of Energy (2020-2021) Maksym Nemchynov;
- ex-deputy, ex-first deputy chairman of the Committee on Construction, Urban Planning, Housing and Regional Policy of the Verkhovna Rada, beneficiary of a private company, Volodymyr Vecherka;
- ex-director of SE "Ukrvugilya" Mykhailo Voloshyn.
It will be recalled that Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yurii Vaskov implemented a scheme to steal 300 million dollars (2.4 billion hryvnias) at the Centenary Project in Odesa Port together with port director Mykola Pavlyuk and bridge builder Becker.
