Scheme at Ukrnafta led to misappropriation of $370m, investigation reveals
Ukrainian anti-graft agencies have finished their investigation into a scheme at the oil company Ukrnafta, which resulted in misappropriation of its property and funds worth UAH 13.8 billion (USD 372.3 million).
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The national anti-corruption bureau (NABU) and the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office (SAP) charged eight people, including former chairman of the board and two top managers of Ukrnafta, with embezzlement.
According to the investigation, in March-August 2015, Ukrnafta entered into sale and purchase agreements with several companies and supplied raw materials worth over UAH 10.7 billion.
Due to a governmental decree, Ukrnafta had no legal grounds to supply products without receiving full payment, but it nevertheless did, processing the crude oil and selling the refined products at petrol stations across Ukraine.
In addition, in July 2015, Ukrnafta entered into 70 agreements with other companies for the purchase of petroleum products with delivery terms until the end of that year, paying in advance the cost of over UAH 3.06 billion.
Later, additional agreements were signed to extend the delivery terms until the end of 2018.
However, Ukrnafta never received the oil products, and the funds were transferred abroad to the accounts of a number of offshore companies.
The companies in question are believed to be related to the companies of the Privat Group, linked to oligarchs Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennady Bogoliubov.
The NABU has already managed to cancel in court 60 agreements worth almost UAH 3 billion (USD 81 million) between Ukrnafta and one of the oil product suppliers, Kotlas LLC.
In total, the agency helped Ukrnafta recover over UAH 3.5 billion in compensation.
Ukrnafta is a joint stock company, the majority of which is owned by state-owned Naftogaz company. In November 2022, Ukrnafta came under the control of the Ukrainian defence ministry along with some other strategic enterprises.