“Onishchenko’s ‘gas case’: court sentences ex-MP to 15 years in prison
5 April 2024 12:18
The High Anti-Corruption Court has found former Member of Parliament Oleksandr Onyshchenko guilty of embezzling UAH 740 million during the production and sale of natural gas by Ukrgazvydobuvannya. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. This was reported by the press service of the SAPO, Komersant ukrainskyi 
reports.
Currently, the ex-national security officer is not in Ukraine, so the sentence is in absentia.
HACC spokeswoman Olesia Chemeris confirmed in a comment to Suspilne that it was Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
She also clarified that Onishchenko was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property, and the other defendants in the case were sentenced to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property
“15 and 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation – the HACCJ panel of judges announced the verdict against the MP of the VII convocation and his CFO, accused of misappropriating state funds worth more than UAH 740 million during the production and sale of natural gas under joint venture agreements with the public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannya,
– the statement said.
What is known about Onishchenko’s case
Onishchenko is accused of organising an illegal gas resale scheme in 2013-2016. According to the investigation, PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannya suffered losses of UAH 740 million, and the state budget lost more than UAH 2 billion.
The investigation found that between January 2013 and January 2016, the state-owned company Ukrgasvydobuvannya entered into several unfavourable contracts with private enterprises. The intermediaries in the process were commodity exchanges that set low gas prices.
In total, the investigation established the involvement of 29 people in the gas scheme. Among them are two close people who acted as co-organisers, the rest are employees of PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannya, a lawyer, financiers, company executives, etc.
According to the investigation, the entire chain of intermediaries, from the parties to the contracts to the winners of the bidding, was controlled by MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
On 5 July 2016, the Verkhovna Rada lifted Onyshchenko’s immunity, but he fled Ukraine and is wanted .
The NABU completed a pre-trial investigation into Onyshchenko in July 2018.
The fugitive MP was charged with committing crimes under Art. 255(1) (creation of a criminal organisation), Art. 27(3) (types of accomplices), Art. 28(4) (commission of a crime by a group of persons), Art. 191(5) (misappropriation of property), Art. 205(2) (fictitious business), Art. 2 Art. 205-1 (forgery of documents), Art. 364-1 (abuse of power), Art. 366 (forgery in office), Art. 209 (money laundering), Art. 263 (illegal handling of weapons), Art. 388 (illegal actions with seized property) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In February 2019, his case went to court.
In July 2019, Onishchenko tried to run for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in a majority constituency, but the CEC and the court cancelled his registration.
In December 2019, Onyshchenko was detained in Germany, but in late May 2020, a German court rejected Ukraine’s request for his extradition. In 2020, Germany denied Onyshchenko asylum and asked him to leave.
In January 2021, the United States added Oleksandr Onyshchenko to the sanctions list for his involvement in the “Russian network of interference in the US presidential election”.
In October 2021, Onishchenko was granted Russian citizenship to compete for the Russian national equestrian team.
