The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv seized the controlling shares of the critical energy infrastructure enterprises Khersonoblenergo, Kirovogradoblenergo, Zhytomyroblenergo, Rivneoblenergo and Chernivtsioblenergo.
This is reported by the investigators of the "Schemes" project, who have a copy of the court decision made on November 11, 2022.
In total, the court seized 99.9% of the Khersonoblenergo shares, 72.9% of the Kirovogradoblenergo shares, 95.5% of the Zhytomyroblenergo shares, 93.2% of the Rivneoblenergo shares, and 96.8% of the Chernivtsioblenergo shares. The mass media wrote that the indicated oblenergos are part of the VS Energy group, which is controlled by the deputy of the Russian State Duma Oleksandr Babakov, the president of the Central Army Sports Club (СASC) Moscow football club Yevgeny Giner and Mykhailo Voevodin, a so-called thief in law nicknamed "Misha Luzhnetsky".
Investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) call this group the Luzhniki criminal organization. They are investigating the appropriation of property and encroachment on the territory of Ukraine by the VS Energy group. The pre-trial investigation established that a criminal organization represented by Giner, Babakov and Voevodin has been operating in Ukraine since 2001 until today.
According to the investigation materials, Babakov, as a deputy of Putinʼs United Russia party, influenced the top leadership of Ukraine from 2001 to 2014 and lobbied the interests of the criminal group to appropriate assets. Giner financed the group, and Voevodin organized "forced support of asset acquisition processes."
According to the investigation, in the period from 2017 to 2022, regional energy companies controlled by VS Energy "transferred more than 1.65 billion hryvnias to the groupʼs enterprises under fictitious transactions, after which part of the funds were legalized by purchasing movable and immovable property."
The court documents state that the organizers of the criminal group and persons connected to them undermined the sovereignty of Ukraine and its defense capability, as well as contributed in every possible way to the occupation of Ukrainian territories.
- Previously, "Schemes" wrote that Babakov, Giner and Voevodin control a whole business empire in Ukraine — a chain of hotels, a bank, industrial enterprises and a number of the Oblenergo. Personal sanctions were introduced against them in Ukraine. Babakov is also under EU and the U.S. sanctions.