A large-scale theft of heating network equipment was uncovered in Kryvyi Rih
The Office of the Prosecutor General has referred to court a case involving two former executives of a state-owned thermal power company and six members of an organized group. They are suspected of large-scale embezzlement of equipment from strategic heating stations in Kryvyi Rih during martial law.
According to the investigation, the perpetrators dismantled more than 1,100 water heaters and sold them as scrap metal, causing the state losses of nearly 26 million hryvnias. As a result, more than 250,000 city residents, as well as businesses and critical infrastructure facilities, were left without hot water.
The investigation established that, under the guise of “equipment evacuation,” more than 1,140 water heaters were removed from strategic heating stations. On the company’s restricted premises, they were dismantled, with brass tubes containing non-ferrous metals being removed. To conceal the theft, the empty spaces inside the water heaters were stuffed with old clothes and other junk; the equipment was then returned to its original location and recorded as functional during inventory checks.
The seized metal was sold for cash at local scrap yards without accounting records or mandatory radiation testing, and the proceeds were divided among the participants in the scheme.
As a result of the effective destruction of the equipment, nearly half of Kryvyi Rih was left without hot water.
The defendants are charged with establishing and participating in a criminal organization, as well as embezzlement of state property on an especially large scale, committed under martial law.
The case files regarding two other participants have been separated into a separate proceeding. They have been placed on the wanted list, and the court has ordered their detention as a preventive measure.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
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