UAH 447 million in losses for "Ukrenergo": electricity manipulation scheme exposed. PHOTOS
A scheme to embezzle funds from PJSC NEC "Ukrenergo", which operated between 2022 and 2024, has been uncovered.
This was announced by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, according to Censor.NET.
Details
It is noted that the organiser is the founder and de facto controller of private energy supply companies through which electricity was sold.
"The man involved four market participants in the scheme and created a network of controlled companies. Through them, they supplied electricity to end consumers and systematically manipulated consumption forecasts.
They deliberately underestimated electricity demand, knowing that actual consumption would be significantly higher. In other words, ‘on paper’ they showed that little electricity was needed, but in reality they sold significantly more.
This resulted in a shortfall – the difference between what was declared and what was actually used. This shortfall was automatically covered by the state so that consumers would not be left without power," he said.
The scheme’s participants also received full payment from consumers for the electricity supplied. However, instead of settling accounts with the state, these funds were channelled through controlled companies and sole traders, effectively embezzling them.
The participants in the scheme did not pay off their debt to Ukrenergo; instead, they artificially accumulated it, drove the companies into irrecoverable debt and initiated bankruptcy proceedings.
They then repeated this with new companies.
As a result, the state suffered losses of over 447 million hryvnias.
All participants have now been notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The organiser has additionally been charged under Part 3 of Article 27 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The issue of imposing preventive measures on them is being decided. Additional incidents and possible similar losses for 2025–2026 are also being investigated.
"The investigation is ongoing. We are identifying all those involved and investigating other possible instances of criminal activity for the years 2025–2026," the prosecutor’s office concluded.
