Low-quality coal, fictitious contracts, and suspicious suppliers — another scandal is unfolding around the state-owned company Centrenergo. Investigators from the Bureau of Economic Security are investigating the supply of fuel of dubious quality from Energo Resource Group LLC, which received contracts worth over UAH 1.5 billion.
According to the investigation, the supplier purchased coal from companies far from the energy sector - in particular, from firms specializing in car trading. Thus, "Kevian Drive" and "OL Trans Global" received more than 143 million UAH, but their tax invoices were blocked due to suspicion of fictitious transactions.
Energo Resource Group claimed to be leasing coal enrichment plants from Novieks in the Donetsk region - in Tsukuryne and Myrnograd. However, the inspection showed that these facilities were not used for production, and the enterprises did not submit any reports on emissions. In addition, the village of Tsukuryne is located in a combat zone, which effectively makes the operation of any production facilities impossible.
The company concluded two large-scale contracts with PJSC "Centrenergo": from November 8, 2023 for the amount of up to UAH 550 million and from February 8, 2024 - for UAH 1 billion. In total, the state-owned company transferred UAH 1.067 billion to the supplier's accounts, most of which was an advance payment. The price per ton of coal is UAH 5,076 including VAT.
The investigation found that the director of the company acted in collusion with unidentified individuals who actually controlled the company's activities. They failed to register tax invoices for over UAH 185 million, causing the state to lose about UAH 31 million in VAT.
The director and owner of Energo Resource Group is Oleksiy Pruzhenko, a native of Luhansk Oblast, whose property is currently under arrest. Previous co-owners included Ihor Kachmar and Tetyana Shcherbanyuk, a businesswoman from Severodonetsk who once ran for the Our Land party. The supervisory board of Centrenergo is headed by the scandalous businessman Andriy Gota, whose name has been repeatedly mentioned in high-profile corruption stories.
