"Kurchenko’s fuel" case: former People’s Deputy and his business partner are served suspicion notices for misappropriation of oil products - NABU and SSU
On February 12, 2024, the NABU and the SAPO, together with the SSU, exposed a criminal organization whose activities caused the state to suffer losses of UAH 967 million in 2014-2018. This is probably the case of former People’s Deputy and Head of the Association of Defense Enterprises Serhii Pashynskyi.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the NABU press centre.
What the NABU says
According to the NABU, the investigation found that in 2014, a court seized 97,000 tonnes of oil products imported into Ukraine in violation of the law.
"One of the oil businessmen, who had the "necessary" connections in government and law enforcement agencies, together with a top official of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, developed a scheme to seize seized property and created a criminal organization for this purpose. They managed to transfer fuel and lubricants to a state-owned enterprise, where they appointed their controlled persons to senior positions. At the same time, the top official ensured control over the storage bases of oil products by the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, whose actions were managed by members of the criminal organization on the ground," the NABU claims.
Subsequently, the state-owned enterprise sold the raw materials in full at reduced prices to a company controlled by the organizer of the scheme under the pretext of "forced sale", while the state budget did not receive any hryvnia. Partially received funds were transferred to the accounts of other controlled entities, while the state budget did not receive a single hryvnia. The total amount of losses incurred by the state as a result of the scheme is UAH 967 million.
Six people have so far been notified of suspicion:
- former acting Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, People's Deputy of Ukraine, head of one of the committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, co-organizer of a criminal organization;
- entrepreneur, co-organizer of a criminal organization;
- former director of a state-owned enterprise;
- former deputy director of a state-owned enterprise;
- manager of a state-owned enterprise;
- to the head of a private company.
Classification: Part 1 of Art. 255, Part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
"Measures aimed at establishing the full amount of losses, as well as other persons involved, including top officials, are ongoing," the NABU added.
What the SSU says
In turn, the SSU noted that the NABU, SAPO and the SSU had served a notice of suspicion to the former People`s Deputy and his business partner for misappropriation of oil products and causing almost UAH 1 billion in losses to the state.
"The National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine, based on the materials of the State Audit Service, have served a notice of suspicion to a former People`s Deputy, his business partner and four of their accomplices. They are suspected of misappropriation and sale of 97,000 tonnes of state-confiscated oil products that were supposed to be used for the needs of the army," the SSU said.
With the help of experts from the State Audit Service of Ukraine, it was established that these frauds, which took place in 2014-2017, caused almost UAH 1 billion in losses to the state budget.
The suspicion was announced under Articles 191 and 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The SSU explains that in 2014, the state confiscated almost 100,000 tons of oil products from the structures of Serhii Kurchenko, a Yanukovych-era oligarch who fled Ukraine for Russia. According to the investigation, with the help of the former People's Deputy's political lobby, these oil products were transferred to a specialized state-owned enterprise for sale to fill the state budget. At the time, this state-owned enterprise was headed by executives who were controlled by the former deputy's business partner.
"At the direction of the defendants in the case, officials of this state-owned enterprise facilitated the sale of almost 100 thousand tons of oil products at significantly reduced prices to a group of companies owned by the ex-deputy's business partner.
According to the investigation, these oil products were then sold at the gas stations of this group of companies and other network gas stations, and the proceeds were concentrated among the beneficiaries of the scheme," the SSU added.
"To create the appearance that the seized oil products were transferred for the needs of the Ministry of Defense, the state-owned enterprise made the relevant supplies on a commercial basis, for which the Ministry of Defense paid in full. However, the Ministry of Defense received only 1.6% of the so-called "Kurchenko's oil products". The rest were oil products purchased from the same group of companies, which, in turn, purchased them from Russia and Belarus. At the same time, the defendants sold the same range of goods to their group of companies at a price half as cheap as the price paid to the Armed Forces.
According to the investigation, the former People's Deputy provided political cover for these transactions, using his influence and administrative resources on state-owned enterprises, judicial and law enforcement agencies involved in the confiscation of these oil products," the statement said.
In 2020, the court ruled on a special confiscation in favour of the state of the aforementioned oil products and the funds received from their sale. However, according to the investigation, the entire volume of oil products and all the proceeds from their sale had already been misappropriated by the members of the criminal organization, and the state budget suffered losses of at least UAH 967 million.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The offenders face up to 12 years in prison.
The suspects are likely to be former People's Deputy and head of the Association of Defense Enterprises Serhii Pashynskyi. On February 12, he reported that representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau came to his home to search it. The search is conducted in the case of the transfer of "Kurchenko's fuel" to the state
Pashynskyi also stated his position on the case.
