You're reading: Six suspects announced, one detained over Rotterdam+ coal pricing scheme

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has issued notices of suspicion to six individuals involved in Rotterdam+, an infamous coal pricing schemes that many believe fuels corruption.

Of the six people issued notices on Aug. 8, one has already been detained.

According to NABU detectives, in three years, the scheme resulted in Hr 18.8 billion ($748 million) worth of losses to Ukrainian electricity consumers.

“We finally gathered enough evidence to issue (notices of) suspicion to these people,” said Nazar Kholodnytsky, Ukraine’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor, during an Aug. 9 press-conference.

NABU opened a criminal investigation into the controversial scheme in March 2017.

The scheme was simple: The coal, necessary for the operation of thermal power plants, was supplied from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and from Russian-occupied areas in the Donbas region.

But the price was formed as if the coal was delivered from Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands. It made the price much higher than it should have been.

Read more about Rotterdam+ here.

Despite Ukraine launching a new electricity market on July 1 and lifting the Rotterdam+ formula, the investigation didn’t stop.

Among the list of suspects is Volodymyr Yevdokimov, the director of state-run enterprise Market Operator, which manages electricity purchases and sales. He has already been detained.

Another suspect is the former chief of the national energy regulation commission, Dmytro Vovk, a protégé of former President Petro Poroshenko.

NABU did not name the four other suspects, disclosing only their job titles. They are currently not in Ukraine.

According to NABU Chief Artem Sytnyk, some suspects have lived abroad for more than a half of the year, but are actively complaining on Facebook that the actions against them are politically motivated.

“We invite them to cooperate,” said Sytnyk.

Vovk denies all the accusations against him and calls them absurd.

“The Rotterdam+ case is a hyped media and legal bubble,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

DTEK factor

Among the unnamed suspects are two top managers from Ukrainian energy giant DTEK, which is owned by the country’s richest oligarch, Rinat Akmetov.

DTEK has allegedly benefited from the high prices created by Rotterdam+, the Nashi Groshi investigative project reported on Dec. 5, 2018.

During the Rotterdam+ period, DTEK’s financial indicators increased significantly since tariffs for electricity from thermal power plants, most of which are owned by Akmetov’s group, grew sharply.

For example, DTEK’s operating income before taxes was some $684 million in 2016. The next year, it had already reached $885 million.

DTEK says it sees no reason for NABU’s actions and believe there is no legitimate basis for suspicion.

“DTEK is fully cooperating with NABU’s investigation,” the company said in an official statement.