The case of abuse in "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" involving 340 million hryvnias has been forwarded to court

The case of abuse in "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" involving 340 million hryvnias has been forwarded to court

Former and current officials of JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" will stand trial. They are accused of abuses during the conclusion and execution of a contract regarding the increase of natural gas production between JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" and a private foreign company.

According to the investigation data, in 2019-2020, JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" held a tender and signed an agreement with the winning company for providing services to increase natural gas production at the society’s fields. The document stipulated that the company would be involved in both basic and enhanced gas production. The cost for basic production of 1 cubic meter of gas was supposed to be 3-4 times lower than the enhanced production cost, and the volume was to be fixed.

However, the officials of JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" unlawfully reduced the norm for basic natural gas production by 750 million cubic meters over 15 years of the potential contract duration, contrary to the approved tender documentation.

Moreover, the contract included a term stating that the calculation of monthly basic production figures during the contract term would be based on the society’s production volumes for 2020, which JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" officials forbade their employees from increasing.

These illegal actions led to an unwarranted and artificial increase in the share of enhanced production gas, for which JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" had to pay a significantly higher tariff. 

For the "successful" implementation of the project, a responsible official of JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" received a bonus in double the amount of a monthly salary. After this, he left the territory of Ukraine following the onset of the large-scale invasion by the Russian Federation and took on a position as a business development manager at the company that won the tender.

Based on the additional expert assessment conducted during the pre-trial investigation, it was established that from October 2020 (when the fields were transferred under the contractor’s management) to November 2023, the difference between the amount that was supposed to be paid if the basic production indicators set by the tender documentation were met and the amount actually paid to the society exceeds 340 million UAH.

On March 11, 2024, NABU and SAPO uncovered the scheme and announced suspicion to one current and one former official of JSC "Ukrgasvydobuvannya" under part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In September 2024, the investigation was completed.