Prosecutor’s Office closes case against "Naftogaz" top manager Butenko
Criminal proceedings against Oleksii Butenko, head of the "Naftogaz Bioenergy" subsidiary of the "Naftogaz" group, have been closed.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by his lawyers Stanislav Borys and Maksym Boiko in an interview with "Ukrainian News".
The criminal proceedings dated 23 September 2021 were officially closed by the Holosiivskyi District Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv.
According to the lawyers, the prosecution did not obtain evidence that could indicate that a crime had been committed.
The defence also noted that during the pre-trial investigation, the Holosiivskyi District Court and the Kyiv Court of Appeal had established that Butenko was not a suspect, had not been arrested and was not wanted internationally.
The information that Butenko is not wanted was also confirmed by a letter from the National Police.
The defence claims that the examination of the agreements on which some of the charges were based was controversial.
"After reviewing the materials, it became clear that the examination was conducted with gross violations - without complying with norms, standards and methodologies," explained Stanislav Borys.
A special commission of the Ministry of Justice recognised that the examination was conducted with significant violations (commission resolution No. 34/7-K dated 14 June 2024).
According to the lawyers, the criminal proceedings may be related to the removal of collateral from the Ivankivska TPP and the property complex of the enterprise.
"The market value of this asset before the war was about 80 million euros, which made it a tempting target for raiders," said the defence lawyer.
Another episode in the case was Butenko's temporary dismissal from his position at "Naftogaz".
On 29 August 2023, the Boryspil City District Court ruled to reinstate him as CEO of SE "Naftogaz Bioenergy" from 22 February 2023. NJSC" Naftogaz of Ukraine" complied with this ruling.
