SAPO cancels Uchytel’s Day at "Ukrgazvydobuvannya"

SAPO cancels Uchytel’s Day at "Ukrgazvydobuvannya"

The department of Nazar Kholodnytskyi filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the scandalous contract of "Ukrgazvydobuvannya" with the company Moston Properties, which is close to the president of "Odesagaz" Ihor Uchytel.

In mid-December, the Commercial Court of Kyiv accepted the claim of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Nazar Kholodnytskyi, in the interests of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry against PJSC "Ukrgazvydobuvannya" and Moston Properties Limited. The SAPO demanded that the contract signed between the two defendants be declared invalid. According to journalists, it concerns the scandalous contract No. UGV 11083/11-15 for the supply of a block-modular coiled tubing unit for $5.8 million, which was signed on May 29, 2015.

In the photo — Mykola Martynenko

At that time, the largest gas extraction company in the country, controlled by NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine", was headed by Serhiy Kostyuk, who was considered the protégé of one of the founders of the "People’s Front" Mykola Martynenko. As for Moston Properties Limited, despite its British registration, this company had much more in common with Ukrainian gas figures. In particular, the company’s interests in Ukraine are represented by lawyer Artem Sydelnykov. Previously, he defended the interests of PJSC "Odesagaz" in courts, and now he is listed as the beneficiary of the gas procurement and sales enterprise "Odesagaz" and the company "South-gas". Those in the know call Sydelnykov a trusted person of the Odesa Regional Council deputy, president of "Odesagaz" Ihor Uchytel. It is also noteworthy that "South-gas" was one of the partners of the scandalously known Austrian gas intermediary Antra, which the media attributed to Martynenko’s orbit.

In the photo — Oleh Prokhorenko

Oleh Prokhorenko, who replaced Kostyuk as Chairman of the Board of "Ukrgazvydobuvannya", in July 2015 prohibited all heads of departments and branches of the company from cooperating with Moston Properties. This happened after the company paid $3 million for the specified equipment produced by the Chinese Yantai Jereh Petroleum Equipment & Technologies. At that time, the company concluded that even this tranche already ensured a significant overpayment.

To achieve the payment of the remaining $2.8 million, Moston Properties needed to import the ill-fated unit into Ukraine. This was accomplished in August 2015 when it was cleared by the Poltava customs. According to the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office, a number of forged documents were used, which became the basis for opening a criminal case.

In the photo — Ihor Uchytel

Meanwhile, Moston Properties was not about to stop there. The company participated in another "Ukrzaliznytsia" tender for the supply of a coiled tubing unit, which took place in October 2015. However, it was not admitted to the auction due to being included in the register of unscrupulous participants (the victory went to the companies KATT GmbH and "Fidmash"), after which Moston Properties turned to court and even won the first trial in the Kyiv Commercial Court in January 2016. But in the summer of this year, the verdict was overturned by the appellate instance, satisfying the requirements of "Ukrgazvydobuvannya".

Back in 2015, it became known that Moston Properties initiated proceedings with Ukrgasvydobuvannya in the London Arbitration Court, demanding full payment under contract No. UGV 11083/11-15. There is no information on its progress so far, and in this light, the proceedings initiated by the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office may well help the authorities cut the Gordian knot. Fortunately, neither Martynenko, who recently became a suspect in a criminal investigation by the NABU into the embezzlement of funds from the state-owned East GOK and Energoatom, nor Uchytel, who represents the not-so-strong Revival party, have the same influence as they did a few years ago.

oligarh.media