Stolen light

At a time when the majority of Ukrainians, suffering from Russian energy terror, are forced to sit in the dark and, since June, have to pay increased tariffs for electricity, Ukrainian officials are not shy about profiting from the light.

As it became known, law enforcement officers exposed a scheme for the purchase of electricity at significantly inflated prices, in which the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strelets may be involved. Preliminary losses to the state are estimated at tens of millions of hryvnia.

Where does the ball lead?

In May 2024, Kyiv police detained the director of an energy supply company. As it later turned out, he was the head of NEW STROY ENERGY LLC, Sergei Tsyukalo. The man is suspected of embezzling budget funds worth more than 67 million hryvnia. It is reported that the company, on the basis of concluded agreements, during January-December 2022, supplied electrical energy to the institution of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine - the Dnieper-Donbass Canal Authority - at an inflated price.

The scheme was very simple. From the beginning, NEW BUILD ENERGY LLC entered into a basic agreement for the supply of electricity at a market price. And then monthly she increased the price per 1 kW with additional contracts.

During the investigation of this criminal case, investigators unraveled a whole tangle, the threads of which led to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, several electricity supply companies and institutions of the State Water Resources Agency of Ukraine.

Let there be light!

Law enforcement officers are checking the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strelets for involvement in the possible corruption activities of the First Deputy Chairman of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine Natalia Latysh. Sagittarius has known her since the time when he held the position of director of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Administration. Latvian was his subordinate. She became the second person in the State Agency in June 2022. Appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers on the recommendation of Minister Strelets.

According to law enforcement officials, in 2023, Natalya Latysh allegedly gave instructions to subordinate heads of separate structural divisions of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine to enter into contracts with companies controlled by the minister (Electroatom LLC, Biokhimkontrol LLC and E Energy LLC) for the supply of electrical energy.

In particular, contracts with suppliers were concluded by the heads of the following organizations:

— Kamensk Department of Protective Areas of Dnieper Reservoirs;

— Cherkassy Department of Protective Areas of Dnieper Reservoirs;

— Interregional office of protective arrays of Dnieper reservoirs;

— Regional office of water resources in the Kharkov region;

— Regional office of water resources in the Nikolaev region;

— Management of the Dnepr-Donbass channel.

According to law enforcement officers, public purchases of electricity by these organizations occurred with numerous violations of the law and clear signs of collusion. The required supplier offered a high price and occupied obviously impassable places. However, all other bidders were rejected by the management of the organizations under far-fetched circumstances. In the end, the contract was concluded with the only bidder - the remaining one.

Lucifer percentages

Law enforcement officials are currently studying contracts for the purchase of electricity by the above organizations in the period from February to December 2023. And this is what we managed to establish by this time.

Two agreements were signed between the Cherkassy Department of Protective Arrays of the Dnieper Reservoirs and Elektroatom LLC: dated 02/24/2023 No. 23/01-05 for the supply of 7,491,935 kW/h. for a total amount of UAH 40,006,932.90. and agreement dated February 27, 2023 No. 23/01-06 for the supply of 56,625 kW/h. for a total amount of 302,377.50 UAH.

Meanwhile, the market price at the time of conclusion of the contract was 3.856116 UAH/kWh. VAT included. The tariff for transmission services in accordance with the resolution of NEURC dated December 21, 2022 No. 1788 is 0.456336 UAH/kWh. VAT included.

Thus, the supplier’s tariff under these contracts was overestimated by 1.027 UAH/kWh. with VAT, which is 19.2%. Under these two agreements alone, about 6 million UAH were probably stolen from the state.

Here is one example of how the theft of public funds probably occurred due to inflated electricity prices.

The corruption component in other organizations turned out to be similar. According to preliminary estimates by law enforcement officers, a total of almost 78 million UAH may have been embezzled in 2023.

Electroatomic vertical

Currently, law enforcement officers are trying to identify all government officials involved in corrupt transactions with electricity. The following information is checked regarding persons suspected of participation in a possible corruption vertical:

– Alexander Tushevsky was appointed to the position of head of the Interregional Office of Protective Areas of the Dnieper Reservoirs.

The above-mentioned Natalya Latysh may be familiar with him from the time when she worked in the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Administration.

Tushevsky signed settlement agreements with Elektroatom LLC to repay UAH 2,619,643.03 and UAH 7,844,717.63 for consumed electrical energy, accrued without concluding any agreements.

– Vitaly Valiev has been appointed to the position of head of the energy efficiency department of the Interregional Office of Protective Areas of the Dnieper Reservoirs. It is known that he is the husband of Elektroatom LLC employee Elena Levikina. She, in turn, is in contact with authorized persons for public procurement of structural divisions of the State Water Agency.

In addition, law enforcement officers are checking for the probable involvement of the director of Elektroatom LLC, Igor Moroz, and accountants, Kira Abramova and Nina Igonina, in corruption transactions. The investigation suspects that the funds received were cashed by this enterprise, and then distributed among all participants in the scheme and allegedly transferred upward to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.

It is impressive that the possible cynical theft of tens of millions of hryvnias from the state budget by officials continued for more than 2 years, just during a full-scale war.

However, there is hope that law enforcement officers will bring this high-profile criminal case to its logical conclusion, and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in turn, will respond to possible corruption under the roof of the government.