You're reading: Customs chief mulls criminal case against Naftogaz executives

A charge sheet on the violation of customs rules on the customs clearance of gas belonging to RosUkrEnergo has been already drawn up and the issue of opening a criminal case against the Naftogaz leadership is being considered, the Ukrainian State Customs Service Chief Ihor Kaletnik has said.

"At present, charges on the violation of customs rules on transporting gas worth UAH 2.2 billion have been drawn up and the issue of opening the criminal case against the Naftogaz Ukrainy’s leadership is being considered," he told reporters in Kyiv on Monday.

Earlier, Kaletnik had reported that Ukraine’s State Customs Service would complete by Friday, July 23, checks on the lawfulness of the customs clearance of 11 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas belonging to Swiss-based gas trader RosUkrEnergo, according to a court ruling.

On June 8, 2010, the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal ordered Naftogaz Ukrainy to return 11 billion cubic meters of gas to Swiss-registered gas trader RosUkrEnergo (RUE). In addition, the tribunal ordered that RUE would receive from Naftogaz a further 1.1 billion cubic meters of gas in lieu of RUE’s entitlement to penalties for breach of contract.

Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Chief Valeriy Khoroshkovsky earlier had reported on the opening of a case on damages caused to the Ukrainian state in connection with the ruling of the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal. According to media reports, the former first deputy head of Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ihor Didenko, became the main witness in the case and was ordered not to leave Ukraine. The ex-head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, Anatoliy Makarenko, was arrested for two months.

The Security Service’s investigation has been rated as "classified."