"Gas scheme" case: indictment regarding private company ex-Head sent to court
On April 1, 2021, SAPO Prosecutors and NABU Detectives referred an indictment in relation to the former Head of two private companies involved in a corruption scheme that helped embezzle public funds during the extraction and sale of natural gas under joint venture agreements with Ukrgazvydobuvannia PJSC. This is one of the several indictments already filed within the so-called "gas scheme" case.
NABU has established that the accused, as the Head of two of the three joint ventures - Nadra Geocenter LLC and Karpatnadrainvest LLC, was involved in the illegal activities of a former lawmaker and the financial director of the companies. In particular, he submitted bids to exchanges controlled by the lawmaker's criminal organization, setting cheap initial price of natural gas jointly produced by Nadra Geocentre LLC, Karpatnadrainvest LLC, and Firm HAS LLC under agreements with Ukrgazvydobuvannia PJSC.
The total amount of losses from such activities exceeds UAH 740 million. The amount of losses caused to the state company (100% state-owned) by the ex-Head of the private companies operating jointly with Ukrgazvydobuvannia, according to the investigation, exceeds UAH 543 million.
As reported, the accused top manager had been hiding in the territory of the Russian Federation since February 2017. He was detained by the State Border Guard Service on January 12, 2021, at the Bachivsk checkpoint in Sumy region.
On January 13, 2021, the High Anti-Corruption Court sent him in custody with an option of being released on UAH 1.75 million bail.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.