Corruption in energy sector: scheme to embezzle nearly UAH 170 million uncovered (PHOTOS)

NABU and SAPO have exposed a large-scale corruption scheme involving the embezzlement of funds from State Enterprise NNEGC Energoatom during the construction of a critical infrastructure facility in the Mykolaiv region — the Tashlyk Pumped Storage Power Plant.

The suspects include:

the mastermind of the scheme, who is the de facto owner of several companies;

the former head of a department at the Atomproektengineering separated subdivision of Energoatom.

According to the investigation, the completion works for the Tashlyk PSPP were carried out by a company owned by the scheme's organizer. Despite the company repeatedly missing deadlines and undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, supplementary agreements were systematically signed with it, altering the scope and list of works and their completion timeframes.

This became possible due to the influence the company's de facto owner exerted over Energoatom officials.

Under one of these supplementary agreements—of which more than 70 were signed in total—equipment for the PSPP's automated control system was procured at a total cost exceeding UAH 305 million. The purchase was routed through a foreign company controlled by the suspects, which allowed them to artificially inflate the equipment's price by nearly UAH 170 million.

The actions of the suspects fall under Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The organizer of the scheme was detained pursuant to Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are underway to identify all individuals involved in the scam.