Kolomoisky's business partner charged with embezzlement of $16 million from Ukrtatnafta

Ihor Kolomoisky's business partner Mykhailo Kiperman has been charged by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Economic Security Bureau of misappropriating UAH 600 million ($16.25 million) from Ukrtatnafta, reported the SBU press service.

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The investigation has received information that this is the amount of money that was withdrawn from Ukrtatnafta's accounts on the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion, allegedly at Kiperman's initiative.

"The scheme was that on February 24, 2022, PJSC Ukrtatnafta transferred almost UAH 600 million ($16.25 million) to a European company controlled by the company, which was intended for another supplier to pay for the previously chartered 84,000 tons of crude oil. At the time of the fraud, this raw material was already in the port of Odesa and was to be delivered for further processing to the Kremenchuk refinery," the SBU said in a statement.

To implement the scheme, a fake contract was created with different details of the payment recipient.

Based on the evidence collected, the Security Service pressed charges against Kiperman, as the actual owner of the company where the money was transferred, under three articles of the Criminal Code: misappropriation of property (Part 5 of Article 191), illegal actions with payment documents (Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 200), and forgery (Part 3 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366).

Kiperman is abroad and is going to be put on the international wanted list.

Ruslan Liapka, the former acting first deputy chairman of Ukrtatnafta, has already been charged on three counts. Olena Oholyar, a former Ukrtatnafta accountant, was also charged.

In early February, the SBU conducted searches in the house of Ihor Kolomoisky.