Ukraine partly closed the case of “Rotterdam+,” the coal pricing scheme, because experts couldn’t estimate the damage of the arrangement and hence couldn’t prove the guilt of six suspects involved in the case, Ukraine’s specialized anti-corruption prosecutor Vitaly Ponomarenko announced on Aug. 28.
The case is closed only in relation to the suspects, Ponomarenko said, while the pre-trial investigation continues.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, or NABU, disagrees and wants to appeal.
In March 2017 the bureau opened a criminal investigation into the controversial scheme revealing that it cost Hr 19 billion ($750 million) to Ukrainian electricity consumers.
The bureau also issued notices of suspicion to six individuals involved in the scheme. Among the suspects are Volodymyr Yevdokimov, director of the state-run energy enterprise Market Operator and Dmytro Vovk, the former chief of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission, a protégé of former President Petro Poroshenko.
Two more suspects were said to be top managers from Ukraine’s energy giant DTEK, owned by Ukraine’s richest billionaire oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.
According to the previous allegations, the DTEK benefited from the high prices created by Rotterdam+ as its Eurobonds soared and income increased after the formula’s adoption.
DTEK called accusations “unjustified ” and in a statement released on Aug. 28 said that all the suspicions were groundless. “DTEK has always consistently advocated for the introduction of the transparent European pricing mechanisms in Ukraine and the abolishment of manual regulation. The company regrets that NEURC’s decision to implement such principles has become a tool for political manipulation and long-term persecution of the company,” according to the statement.
Detectives from NABU, however, gathered enough evidence to submit to the court and prove the suspects guilty, the bureau said.
Ukraine’s specialized anti-corruption office, however, could not obtain more evidence because the time limit of the pre-trial investigation has already expired, Ponomarenko said.
According to NABU, the prosecutor did not demand the materials of the proceeding for the entire time of the investigation, so the detectives did not understand why he closed the case instead of submitting it to the court.
The “Rotterdam+” case was one of the NABU’s priorities aiming to fight the corruption in the energy sector.
The Rotterdam+ formula was unfair, said energy expert Andriy Gerus, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s representative to the Cabinet of Ministers. The “plus” in the formula that refers to the added cost of the coal’s delivery from Rotterdam to Ukraine was groundless and led to an increase in prices, Gerus told the Kyiv Post.
