Management of "Centrenergo" spent 4.3 billion hryvnias on low-quality coal with forged documents

Management of "Centrenergo" spent 4.3 billion hryvnias on low-quality coal with forged documents

The Office of the Prosecutor General is investigating a large-scale corruption scheme related to the supply of low-quality coal to PJSC "Centrenergo", whose supervisory board is headed by Andriy Hota. According to the investigation, the criminals, using controlled enterprises and corrupt connections in the Ministry of Energy, supplied coal of dubious origin, made with forged documents, to the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant (Kharkiv region) and Trypilska Thermal Power Plant (Kyiv region).

This became known from the materials of the relevant criminal proceedings opened by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI).

In 2023-2024, PJSC "Centrenergo" concluded several contracts for the supply of coal with the companies LLC "Energo Resurs Group" (45114874), LLC "Coal Company Optenergotorg" (43050814), and LLC "Global Soft Ukraine" (now LLC "Tozhraim", 43305877) for a total amount of 4.3 billion UAH.

All agreements provided for coal supplies at a base price of 5076 UAH per ton (including VAT). According to the contracts, discounts from 1.3% to 10% were provided in case of quality deterioration, and bonuses up to 2.5% for improvements. If the ash content of the coal exceeded 35% or the moisture content was above 14%, the price decreased to 507.6 UAH per ton.

Contract breaches and fake certificates

The investigation found that instead of quality coal, products of unknown origin were supplied without proper checks. Forged quality certificates purportedly issued by enrichment plants were used. The products were loaded into railway wagons and sent to the thermal power plants without necessary control. This became possible due to a prior agreement with "Centrenergo" officials.

The received funds were transferred to accounts of shell companies, withdrawn in cash, and distributed among the scheme participants. For example, LLC "Coal Company Optenergotorg" transferred 35 million UAH to the account of LLC "Energy Capital Group", which, in fact, does not conduct any activity, and its manager left for the territory occupied by the enemy in 2022.

The company "Energo Resurs Group" purchased coal from firms engaged in completely different activities, such as trading cars. Thus, LLC "Kevian Drive" and PE "OL Trans Global" received over 143 million UAH for coal supplies, but tax authorities blocked most of the invoices due to suspicion of fictitious operations.

In addition, "Energo Resurs Group" declared leasing two factories from LLC "Noviex" in the Donetsk region: Tsukuryne Village, Pokrovskyi district, 40 Shakhtna str.; and the city of Myrnohrad, Pokrovskyi district, 2 Hirnycha str. The check showed that these facilities were not used for production as they did not submit reports on emissions of pollutants. Sugar is located in an area of active hostilities and is regularly shelled, making the use of these facilities impossible. There is also no data on the purchase of electricity for the operation of these factories, which confirms their fictitiousness.

Also, "Energo Resurs Group" declared fictitious operations with:

• VP "Zakhidvuglezbut", whose tax invoices were blocked due to the risky status of the counterparty
• LLC "Eurosmart", sold 8 cars, but there was no payment
• PE "OK Auto", purchased 11 cars without actual payments, the company is recognized as risky
• LLC "Meitis", sold 27 cars without payments, diesel fuel sale not confirmed
• LLC "Oil sales group", diesel fuel sale (QR coupons) without payment, the recipient did not have vehicles for using this fuel
• LLC "Kentos", diesel fuel purchase
• LLC "Adonis Prime", purchased diesel fuel for 27.6 million UAH, payment 10 million UAH, absence of vehicles on balance for fuel use
• LLC "Levais-Trading" and LLC "TD "Greenlight", probable cashing of funds

The State Tax Service (STS) revealed a large-scale scheme of fictitious transactions involving several enterprises associated with coal supply, which were likely aimed at money laundering and tax evasion.

LLC "CC "Optenergotorg", according to documents, concluded agreements for the purchase of stone coal with several companies for a total amount of over 100 million UAH. However, STS checks revealed numerous violations and signs of fictitious activities of the contractors. LLC "Normatex" did not submit reports to tax authorities and did not have enough resources for conducting real business operations. The STS recognized this company as risky due to the absence of the necessary conditions for operations and unreliable data in tax declarations. LLC "Energy Capital Group", according to tax reporting, actually purchased only a small part of the declared volume of coal for the contractor. It was also found that the company does not conduct activities at the indicated legal address.

LLC "Energosens" received payments, but tax authorities established that this enterprise did not submit reporting and had no employees, indicating signs of fictitiousness.

The detected violations may indicate a large-scale scheme for diverting state funds and tax evasion.

Additionally, the pre-trial investigation established that during 2023-2024, the officials of "Centrenergo" contractors used the details of fictitious enterprises as prepayment for coal, with the aim of further cashing, artificially creating primary accounting documents (contracts, acts of delivery-acceptance of works (services), invoices, expenditure invoices, tax invoices, and other documents), which became the basis for forming artificial expenses, which subsequently affected the financial result of enterprises and the tax base.