Gas embezzlement worth UAH 2.1bn: MP Dubnevych’s case to be taken to court
14 August 2024 12:56
The Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the NABU have completed an investigation into the case of Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Dubnevych, who is suspected of organising the theft of natural gas worth UAH 2.1 billion and legalising the proceeds of crime. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the press service of the SAPO and NABU.
The pre-trial investigation established that during 2013-2017, the Member of Parliament of Ukraine, involving 5 other persons, organised the seizure of natural gas by officials of Novoyavoriv and Novorozdilska CHP (Lviv region) under his control for a total amount of over UAH 2.155 billion.
The investigation established that the enterprises-owners of Novoyavoriv and Novorozdolsk CHP (Lviv region) controlled by the MP entered into a number of agreements on the purchase of natural gas from Naftogaz of Ukraine to produce heat for the population. In order to reduce the cost of heating for this category of consumers, Naftogaz supplied gas to commercial CHP plants at prices significantly lower than market prices.
However, the Novoyavorivska and Novorozdilska CHPPs did not supply the gas at a “preferential” price to the public, but used it in their business activities to generate electricity, which was subsequently sold to the state-owned enterprise Energorynok at a tariff determined on the basis of the cost of electricity generated from gas at a market price.
As a result of the criminal actions, the profitability of electricity production by Novoyavorivska and Novorozdilska CHPPs in some periods exceeded 100%.
Subsequently, the MP organised the legalisation of part of the excess profits by transferring them to the accounts of a controlled LLC and non-resident companies, in particular those registered in the Republic of Cyprus and the Marshall Islands, mixing and disguising them, and eventually returning them to Ukraine under the guise of foreign investment to finance business in Lviv region.
on 10 October 2023, the Member of Parliament of Ukraine was served a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 5 of Art. 191; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
It should be noted that indictments against five participants in the crime have now been sent to court, and the integral property complexes of Novorozdilska CHP and Novoyavorivska CHP have been seized.
What is known about the Dubnevych case
In February 2022, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, based on the NABU’s pre-trial investigation, sent an indictment to the court charging 9 people, including MP Yaroslav Dubnevych. The MP and 8 other defendants are suspected of misappropriating more than UAH 93 million of funds of PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia. The MP posted bail for himself, but did not appear in court.
on 17 October 2023, the NABU put Yaroslav Dubnevych on the wanted list, and on 2 November, he was put on the international wanted list. At the request of the Ukrainian authorities, Europol replied that on 8 October 2023, Dubnevich crossed the Romanian border with Hungary, and his further whereabouts are unknown. It is also not known how he crossed the Ukrainian border, as there is no data on this in the system.
on 27 October, the HACCU issued a ruling to summon MP Yaroslav Dubnevych to a hearing and fined him for failure to appear. on 13 November, the court granted the motion of the NABU detectives and imposed a preventive measure in the form of detention on the suspect. However, in order to apply this measure of restraint, Dubnevich must first be detained. By the way, the bail posted for the MP has already been collected for the needs of the Armed Forces. Dubnevych himself does not attend the court hearing, only joins via video link. He refuses to inform the court of his whereabouts. Meanwhile, in December, it became known that Yaroslav Dubnevich’s daughter, Roksolana Pirtko, had bought a house in an elite area of Bratislava for 600,000 euros.
In January, the HACCU Appeal Court refused to change the measure of restraint for the MP arrested in absentia, Dubnevych.
Yaroslav Dubnevich is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament of the VII-IX convocations. Since 2019, he has been a member of the For the Future parliamentary group. He is involved in numerous anti-corruption investigations. in 2019, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity.
