The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) in the morning on Feb. 8 were raiding the head office of public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannia, the subsidiary of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukrgazvydobuvannia Board Chairman Oleh Prokhorenko said.
“In the morning there are raids by masked SBU and PGO officers at Ukrgazvydobuvannia. Do you want to know how reforms are going on in Ukraine? In this way – reforms in the evening and raids in the morning,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Prokhorenko told reporters that along with the head office in Kyiv law enforcement agencies were raiding the companies’ branches – Poltavagazvydobuvannia and Shebelynkagazvydobuvannia. He said that the raids are linked to the 2010 or 2014 procurement cases, not to the operating top managers of the company.
He said that the enterprise is open to work with law enforcers and it is ready to provide information calmly without blocking the operation of the company.
He said he was perplexed that the operation of the company is being blocked in the period of biting frosts when each cubic meter of natural gas produced by the company is important.
He also said that the raids could relate to the pressure on the company over its position about the termination of joint operation agreements.
According to the report of the SBU, the raids are linked to the unveiling the money laundering scheme by the company’s officials.
“Law enforcers have established that the officials of the head office of Ukrgazvydobuvannia and regional branches in collusion with commercial structures organized a money embezzlement scheme via provision of guard services. Ukrainian law bans from guarding important facilities in state ownership by private structures,” the SBU said.
The SBU said that the officials unlawfully sent over Hr 95 million to commercial firms. The deal participants converted the money into cash and embezzled it. The criminal case was opened under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pretrial investigation is underway.
