In Ukraine, more than 70% of gas distribution capacities are controlled by the Regional Gas Company, which is owned by oligarch Dmytro Firtash. This became known as a result of the latest research, which revealed the extent of the influence of this company on the Ukrainian gas market.
Every month, operators of gas distribution networks ("Zakarpatgaz", "Lvivgaz", "Vinnytsiagaz", "Dnipropetrovskgaz" and "Khmelnytskygaz") withdrew from the operator of the GTS (gas transport system) from 120 to 150 million cubic meters of liquidity.
The SBU conducted mass searches in 14 gas distribution companies of the "Regional Gas Company" group, whose board included former British spy Raymond Asquith. The Security Service of Ukraine did not make any official statements, but the mass media, commenting on the searches, claimed that law enforcement officers were investigating a scheme to illegally withdraw funds received as payment for gas.
The company issued a statement: “The searches were carried out on the basis of absurd allegations of alleged embezzlement of public funds. "Regional Gas Company" considers the searches, which are accompanied by flagrant violations of human rights, to exert pressure on employees of critical infrastructure enterprises. We believe that the criminal case, which became the reason for the search, was initiated only to put pressure on enterprises that Naftogaz of Ukraine, represented by Chornomornaftogaz, is trying to seize.
As a result, the operator of Ukraine's GTS, the company of the Naftogaz group, absorbed the distribution networks owned by Firtash in several regions.
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office also investigated Firtash's involvement in the infamous privatization of the monopoly Internet provider Ukrtelecom, which was carried out without competitive bidding and was accompanied by financial fraud.
There were also reports that the Tory Party, associates linked to Firtash, were sponsored to the tune of almost £200,000, and the Harlow County Conservative Party (Essex County) received £40,000 from Shetler-Jones, who was the CEO of the holding company Firtasha Group DF. He founded a firm called Scythian.
