Leaders of an oil and gas industry employers' association are suspected of causing 9.6 million hryvnia in losses

Police uncovered alleged abuses by the leaders of an oil and gas industry employers’ association that could have caused nearly 9.6 million hryvnias in losses to companies. According to law enforcement officials, the head of the industry federation and an authorized representative of its regional branch organized the embezzlement of funds intended for the development of the oil and gas sector.

The association represents the interests of the industry’s largest companies, which finance its operations.

 

The perpetrators forged decisions by the presidium, established organizations under their control, and extended their terms of office until 2030.

The newly created public organization was headed by a close associate of the head of the industry employers’ federation—a representative of the Poltava branch. It was through this public organization that funds from the federation could be siphoned off. To carry out the criminal scheme, its leader approached the association’s chairman with a request to provide 21 million hryvnias in non-repayable financial assistance, ostensibly to fulfill the organization’s statutory objectives. 

This amount was transferred in two payments—5 million and 16 million hryvnias. The money was placed in a deposit account, and the interest was used at their discretion. The companies were not properly notified of the transfer of funds to a third-party public organization.

An analysis of banking transactions revealed that over 9.5 million UAH of the second payment came from earmarked contributions made by three major companies in the oil and gas sector. These funds were used without properly notifying the companies that provided them and contrary to the specified funding objectives.

Source: Kyiv Police

We should add that the sale of 15 vehicles, imported as aid for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was uncovered in the country.

As a reminder, top customs officials were caught in a scheme to trade positions to evade mobilization.

Earlier, Svitlana Yukhta, head of the Customs Valuation Division of the State Customs Service’s Tariff Department, left for London and submitted her resignation effective October 1.

Mykhailo Svida, the former head of the Zakarpattia Customs Office, was not convicted of tax evasion. The Uzhhorod City and District Court acquitted him of criminal charges and closed the case after he paid over 7.4 million hryvnias to the state budget.