Another energy scandal is unfolding in Poltava Oblast. The Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine has reported suspicions to the chairman of the board of Poltavaoblenergo, his deputy, and the financial director. According to the investigation, the company's top management committed a large-scale tax fraud, causing losses to the state budget of 49.5 million hryvnias.
As the investigation established, officials of the energy company organized the purchase of transformer equipment supposedly from Turkey. The total amount of the transaction is about 275 million hryvnias. However, everything happened only on paper: no actual import, no real supply.
The purchase was made through a fictitious company that disappeared immediately after the “deal.” Thus, Poltavaoblenergo was able to artificially inflate the company’s expenses and significantly reduce the amount of income tax.
As a result, 49.5 million hryvnias were not received by the budget. This is the amount that law enforcement officers now consider to be a direct consequence of the criminal scheme. All three defendants have already been notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - tax evasion in particularly large amounts.
The procedural management of the case is carried out by the Prosecutor General's Office, operational support is provided by the Security Service of Ukraine. The names of the suspects are not being disclosed at this time, but sources in law enforcement agencies do not rule out that the investigation will later acquire an international dimension - given the alleged "Turkish" origin of the products.
Poltavaoblenergo is one of the regional energy companies that distributes electricity in the region. The company is owned by several large business groups. In the past, the company has been involved in scandals related to opaque tenders and questionable contractors.
This time we are talking about a scheme that simultaneously involves fictitious counterparties, documents with false data, and huge sums that disappear into “paper” transformers.
The case is still under investigation. If the defendants are found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
