The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAP) exposed the scheme of taking over Ukrenergo electricity and legalizing the funds received from its sale. Damages exceed 716 million hryvnias.
This was reported by NABU.
The person who organized the scheme, the exhibitor of the company, the chairman of the board of the bank and the director of a private company received suspicion. According to the investigation, in March 2022 United Energy — one of the largest traders in Ukraine at the time — purchased electricity from Ukrenergo for more than 716 million hryvnias.
Despite the companyʼs debt to the company, the head of the relevant department of "Ukrenergo" did not stop the sale. At the same time, one of the commercial banks acted as guarantor of the payment, and the decision to issue the guarantee was allegedly taken by the chairman of the board alone and in violation of the procedure.
The electricity was sold to real market participants, and the received funds were transferred to the accounts of a foreign company controlled by the organizer of the scheme, which is also a business partner of a participant in the case of NABU and SAP on embezzlement of “PrivatBank” funds. "Ukrenergo" never received the money for the supplied electricity, and when it turned to the guarantor bank with a demand to repay the debt, it was refused.
The actions of the suspects were classified as follows:
- the organizer of the scheme — Part 5 of Art. 191 and Part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
- director of the department of "Ukrenergo" — Part 2 of Art. 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
- the chairman of the board of a commercial bank — Part 2 of Art. 364-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
- director of a private company — Part 5 of Art. 191 and Part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
More than 700 million hryvnias were seized from the accounts of the companies involved in the scheme. They also blocked funds in the accounts of the company controlled by the organizer of the scheme in two European countries. At the same time, they recorded attempts to remove this blocking — fake letters were sent to the address of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies on behalf of detectives and prosecutors.
In order to prevent market participants from incurring significant debts to Ukrenergo, the NABU submitted proposals to the NCSREPU to amend certain provisions of the Market Rules, which the regulator supported.