Shurma, a figure in the NABU investigation, continues to represent the state on the supervisory board of Naftogaz while living abroad

The investigation by NABU regarding Rostyslav Shurma and the searches of his house in Germany have caused significant resonance, not only in Ukraine. But there is another fact that has slipped under the radar: after a series of scandals and his departure from the Office of the President, Rostyslav Shurma remained as a state representative in NAK "Naftogaz of Ukraine." In other words, he retained influence over the operations of a strategic state enterprise—while living abroad.

More details on this in the material on OBOZ.UA.

Zone of Impunity

Rostyslav Shurma’s activities during his time at the Office of the President were accompanied by a series of scandals. A major uproar was caused by an investigation conducted by the Bihus.info team about a "family contract."

It was revealed that solar power plants, co-owned by Shurma’s brother, Oleh, received payments under the "green tariff," despite the fact that... they were under Russian occupation.

According to "Ukrenergo," most of the stations located in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhya region have been operating in a non-synchronized mode with Ukraine’s unified energy system since July 1, 2022. And the electricity from them, most likely, could not enter the Ukrainian market and could not be sold there.

The "Guaranteed Buyer" is supposed to pay for electricity sold to the market. However, payment for electricity that the state enterprise could not sell (due to occupation) accordingly means losses for the state enterprise.

Investigators believe that, thanks to Rostyslav Shurma’s influence, from July 2022 to July 2023, these companies collectively received over 320 million UAH in payments for electricity under the "green tariff."

Some time later, NABU and SAPO conducted searches related to this case. However, they targeted not the "patron" but only his brother and other associated individuals.

In other words, there were no serious attempts to hold Rostyslav Shurma himself accountable. The only exception was a sort of "light version" in February 2024: information appeared on the official website of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention that an administrative protocol had been drawn up due to Shurma’s violation of requirements for preventing and resolving conflicts of interest.

A bit of background. In 2022, Rostyslav Shurma organized the Electricity Committee under the Office of the President, whose participants met under his chairmanship. Key institutions in this field were involved in the meetings: the Ministry of Energy, the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NKREKP), PJSC "NEC Ukrenergo," SE "Market Operator," and SE "Guaranteed Buyer."

Rostyslav Shurma’s brother, Oleh, was the ultimate beneficial owner of seven companies engaged in the production of electricity from alternative sources.

Rostyslav Shurma himself, from 2019 to 2021, was a member of the supervisory board of JSC "Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund ’Helios,’" which is a co-founder of three of the aforementioned companies.

As of July 2022, when the first meeting of the Committee chaired by Shurma took place, SE "Guaranteed Buyer" had significant debts for settlements for electricity produced from alternative sources, purchased from Oleh Shurma’s companies. The total debt to these companies amounted to approximately 254 million UAH.

According to NAPC, during the Committee meetings on August 23 and September 7, 2022, Rostyslav Shurma effectively "forced" "Ukrenergo" and SE "Guaranteed Buyer" to sign and approve with NKREKP the acts of acceptance and transfer of services provided to increase the share of electricity production for four months of 2021 and two months of 2022.

Thus, the decisions made at the Committee meetings were in the private interests of Rostyslav Shurma, namely creating conditions for the success of his brother’s business through the adoption of necessary decisions by state bodies and companies involved in the electricity market.

The protocol regarding Rostyslav Shurma’s actions was submitted by NAPC to the court. If found guilty, he faced a not very severe penalty—a fine. More unpleasant would be the inclusion of his data in the Unified State Register of Persons who committed corruption or corruption-related offenses.

However, in less than a month, the case was closed by Pechersk Court judge Svitlana Shaputko. By the way, the hearing was closed. Perhaps, if the case had been considered publicly, the outcome would have been different.

"Observation" from a distance

After his dismissal from the Office of the President in 2024, Rostyslav Shurma moved to Germany (he has three children), and his family settled in the town of Starnberg near Munich. In July 2025, German law enforcement, at the request of NABU, searched his home.

Spiegel’s information was later confirmed to Ukrainian and foreign media by NABU head Semen Kryvonos. However, he did not disclose the essence of the investigation.

"Since this information is already in the media, and moreover, the German side has reported it, I can confirm that the relevant investigative actions took place. I cannot comment in detail... according to the law, neither on the prospects of this criminal proceeding nor on its essence," Kryvonos said on air, adding that "this case is actively moving forward."

Of course, Rostyslav Shurma remains silent as well. To this day, he remains a member of the supervisory board of NAK "Naftogaz of Ukraine"—thus retaining influence over the operations of the strategic state enterprise. Notably, he is the only member of the board who does not attend in person, joining online instead.

According to sources, Shurma, not waiting for a suspicion to be announced, moved to Vienna—hoping, like other VIP figures, to avoid extradition.

The fact that, against this backdrop, a figure in an anti-corruption investigation that has already gone beyond the borders of our country continues to represent the state—is nothing less than a discredit to Ukraine.

Moreover, there has been no information even about Shurma’s suspension (during the investigation), which could have been initiated by the Cabinet of Ministers or members of the supervisory board, at least due to a loss of trust. And this raises many questions.