"Energoatom" "leaked" electricity and hundreds of millions of hryvnias while whole country was in blackout, - Zheleznyak. VIDEO
In the spring of 2024, when electricity tariffs were raised in Ukraine and large-scale blackouts took place, "Energoatom" JSC could have pulled off a scheme to sell "electricity" worth UAH 300 million.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in a new investigation by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
"We have collected evidence, and it is a very simple case for NABU. We have already filed an application," Zheleznyak said.
A contract with an unknown company for hundreds of millions.
In April 2024, the Russian army destroyed the Trypillia thermal power plant and part of the electricity generation facilities. The authorities began preparing the population for constant blackouts, and the country went into blackout mode.
At the same time, "Energoatom" signed an agreement with "Svitlogroup M" to supply a huge amount of electricity. Then the electricity is sold to them, and the company systematically fails to pay extra. As a result, the state-owned company does not receive any money.
Zheleznyak notes that no one in the energy market knows the private company "Svitlogroup M" itself.
"And the nominal management of the company is not connected with the energy sector, but with the Kharkiv Oblast Judo Federation... So we have two facts. "Energoatom enters into a contract worth hundreds of millions with an unknown company with very dubious management and supplies electricity to this company even though it is accumulating debts. The second fact. "Energoatom receives nothing from the money and loses about UAH 300 million. The debtor is given the opportunity to receive another UAH 40 million from the state budget for VAT refunds. And this is the end of the story," the MP said.
The MP notes that this case is only part of a large-scale scheme that also "reveals the role of an almost unknown official".
How Energoatom tried to hide the case
"Let's start with Energoatom's attempt to hide the case. Already in November 2024, when it became obvious that the money for the electricity sold would not be received, the state-owned company itself filed a criminal complaint... But there is one caveat. For some reason, Energoatom submits this application not to NABU, but to an ordinary district police station. As if it was not UAH 300 million that was stolen from them, but an employee's iPhone. As a result, in this statement, 'Energoatom' confirms that 'Svitlogroup M' did not pay properly. Thus, the state-owned company confirms that it supplied electricity, but without proper payment.
The state-owned company is hiding the statement as much as possible. My colleagues from the parliamentary provisional investigatory commission and I have twice officially requested these documents, but the company refused to provide them, citing some kind of investigation secrecy. We asked the police if we could take this statement, and they said that there was no such prohibition on their part," Zheleznyak said.
He also pointed out that, according to the rules for the sale of electricity in Ukraine, private companies must pay for electricity in advance and only then receive it. According to Zheleznyak, the same applies to the contract with "Svitlogroup M".
"According to the contract, Energoatom could reduce or even stop selling electricity at any time as soon as the buyer stopped paying. Moreover, in the event of non-payment, 'Energoatom' had the full right to sell the unpaid electricity to another buyer plus charge 'Svitlogroup M' a 15% penalty for the amount of electricity it did not use. But for some reason, Energoatom's management did nothing of the above," the MP said.
Who are the main actors in this story?
Zheleznyak says that the contract with "Svitlogroup M" was signed by the director of "Energoatom Trading" at the time, Volodymyr Matkin. The MP calls Matkin "the man of Petro Kotin, the current head of Energoatom". The same Matkin also signed the statement of crime to the district department of the National Police. At the time of signing the contract, Matkin had been working at "Energoatom" for less than a year. In early December 2024, he was fired.
"Just when 'Svitlogroup M' had already received all the electricity, 'Energoatom' filed a criminal complaint. And if you think that he was fired for losing UAH 300 million, then, of course, you are mistaken. Matkin quietly retired," the MP said.
He also noted that according to his 2024 declaration, Matkin received 1.5 times more income than a year earlier - UAH 4.1 million, or an average of UAH 340,000 per month.
Zheleznyak emphasises that Matkin is not the main character in this story. According to him, "Energoatom Trading" is actually subordinated to the vice president and acting member of the "Energoatom" board, Jakob Hartmut.
"He is the one who manages the entire financial block... Without his involvement, it would be impossible to continue supplying electricity without payment or to register tax invoices," Zheleznyak said.
Moreover, Hartmut occupies a "privileged place" in the "Energoatom" hierarchy.
"Most of our sources attribute his emergence to the way Energoatom was overseen by Serhii Shefir. The latter, by the way, has already lost his former influence, and control over 'Energoatom' has passed to another businessman close to the President's Office, Timur Mindich. According to sources, it is with Mindich's light hand that Hartmut is rising in the hierarchy of 'Energoatom'," the MP said.
If we follow Hartmut's biography, we can see that through his career path and growth, we can reach almost all of Mindich's current network of influence in almost all government spheres.
"Hartmut is really a glue man who reveals a huge network of state-owned company watchdogs, heads of state-owned enterprises, advisers, officials, private companies that now have unlimited influence on almost all major economic sectors of the country. That's why such a small case of how UAH 300 million was stolen from 'Energoatom' during the blackout is important not only because it has been documented and there will be enough work for law enforcement, but also because it lays the foundation for a major investigation into what the largest business empire of Bankova actually looks like," the MP said.
