The criminal investigation into the issuance of a major natural gas field to associates of President Petro Poroshenko faces numerous obstacles and is likely to be sabotaged, according to a report by the Schemes show published on Feb. 14.
In 2017 the State Geology and Mineral Resources Service issued a license for the Svystunkivsko-Chervonolutske gas field in Poltava Oblast to Arkona Gaz-Energiya without an auction for Hr 3.8 million. State-controlled oil and gas firm Ukrnafta said it was ready to pay at least Hr 45 million for the field.
The Presidential Administration denied having any links to Arkona Gaz-Energiya.
Owners
One of Arkona Gaz-Energiya’s co-founders, Oleksiy Grebenchenko, used to work at Ukroptkulttovary, a firm owned by Poroshenko. Grebenchenko declined to comment.
In 2017 two other co-owners, Igor Mychko and Oleksandr Neshchotny, sold their stakes in Arkona Gaz-Energiya to Belize-registered firm Ashbury Universal Ltd for Hr 2.8 million.
At the same time, notary public Natalia Malovatska, the wife of High Council of Justice member Oleksiy Malovatsky, transferred the same amount to Mychko and Neshchotny, Schemes said, citing its sources at the State Fiscal Service. Malovatsky represented Poroshenko’s interests as a lawyer in 2014 and was delegated to the High Council of Justice by the Poroshenko Bloc.
Meanwhile, Arkona Gaz-Energiya has given a power of attorney to Liliya Kobzar, who runs Jus Novitas, a firm owned by Malovatsky.
Malovatsky denied having any links to the company and being influenced by Poroshenko, while Malovatska declined to comment. Neshchotny and Mychko were not available for comment.
Arkona Gaz-Energiya is also co-owned by Oleh Olkhovy, who used to be the CEO of Kyiv’s Fifth Element sports club, which is co-owned by Poroshenko and his ally and lawmaker Igor Kononenko.
Criminal case
The sale of the Svustunkivsko-Chervonolutske field to Arkona Gaz-Energiya has been investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Currently, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal is considering canceling the gas field license.
However, there are signs that the case is likely to go nowhere, according to Schemes.
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, whose subordinates are pursuing the case, is a close ally of Poroshenko, whose associates acquired the gas field.
The law bans the prosecutor general’s involvement in political activities. However, Lutsenko has spoken at Poroshenko’s campaign event at which he announced his bid for re-election in January and attended a meeting of the Poroshenko Bloc faction in parliament in 2017. Lutsenko argued that he had not violated the law.
Prosecutors are arguing in court that the license for the gas field was issued with procedural violations. However, they are not using the main argument – that the price of the license was undervalued, Andriy Savin, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, told Schemes.
The Prosecutor General’s Office has also refused to transfer the case to the more independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, which argues that it falls within its jurisdiction.
The Kyiv Research Institute for Forensic Assessments is appraising the price of the license. The institute’s head is Oleksandr Ruvin, who was filmed meeting with Poroshenko’s top ally and lawmaker Oleksandr Hranovsky in 2016.
Schemes said, citing its sources, that a draft of the institute’s assessment says that the price of the gas field license was fair. Ruvin declined to comment.
The case is being considered by Halyna Zemlyana, a judge at the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal.
A week after she started considering the case, she received a letter that the High Council of Justice, one of whose members is Malovatsky, is considering a complaint against her. Such complaints are often used to influence judges’ decisions, Schemes said, citing Halya Chyzhyk, a member of the Public Integrity Council.
The High Council of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
