The message of the Security Service of Ukraine reveals a large-scale scheme of theft of blue fuel from the country's gas transportation system. According to the report, made public as early as May 15, 2023, the scheme was that Oblgaz, which was under Firtash's control, made a "purchase" of fuel from a company that was also under his control. However, they actually received only up to 30% of the gas they had already paid for. 
According to the Register of Court Decisions, the criminal proceedings are already at the stage of active investigation, and preventive measures have already been chosen for several involved parties. At the same time, the investigators are engaged in the analysis of the actions of NCREKP officials, whose decisions contributed to the enrichment of several private companies from the "Firtash group".
The Security Service of Ukraine emphasizes that the managers of the "Regional Gas Company" (RGK), which manages 20 city and regional gas companies, participated in this organization and implementation of the embezzlement scheme of funds intended for the purchase of blue fuel. This actually means the appropriation of funds of citizens who paid utility bills. According to SBU estimates, the total amount of damage caused during 2016-2022 may amount to more than 18 billion hryvnias.
New data indicate that the state-owned regional gas company used "unreceived" fuel from the gas transportation system of Ukraine, which was owned by the state, to cover the deficit caused by this manipulation. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, practically no payment was made for such fuel in accordance with the contract.
The ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeals in criminal proceedings No. 72022000420000075 confirms the fact of the illegal use of 4.2 billion hryvnias of tariff funds allocated for the purchase of natural gas to cover costs by the operators of the gas distribution network of the "Regional Gas Company" group.
This scheme of enrichment of Firtash's private companies was facilitated by the decisions of the National Commission for State Regulation in the Energy and Utilities Sector (NKREKP). NKREKP established the amount of excess of the actual cost of gas distribution services over the tariff revenue, as well as the corresponding tariffs. It is known that at the time of consideration of these cases, Valery Tarasyuk was the head of the NCRECP.
According to the results of court documents, Firtash's 12 gas companies, reimbursing expenses from the state budget and funds of Ukrainian citizens, received significant profits. This led to large losses for the country, in particular, JSC "Vinnytsiagaz" suffered losses in the amount of more than 483 million hryvnias, JSC "Lvivgaz" - almost 583.5 million hryvnias, and other companies lost amounts from 113.8 million to more than 380 million hryvnias .
According to the official website of the NCRECP, in March of this year, the Regulator again approved the excess of the actual cost of gas distribution services over the tariff revenue for gas distribution network operators in the amount of more than 29.7 billion hryvnias, of which 22.3 billion hryvnias are intended for the mentioned companies involved in the criminal proceedings
These new facts indicate that the scheme of embezzlement of state funds in the natural gas market is returning, and this is happening in the context of changes in the leadership of the National Energy and Gas Commission, in particular, the appointment of Valery Tarasyuk to the position of the head of the commission from March 3 of this year. The Security Service of Ukraine has already paid attention to this and is conducting an investigation into the participation of responsible officials in new enrichment schemes of companies from the "Firtash group".
