Based on the SBI materials, corporate rights of three companies of ex-MP and russian oligarch that extract gas and oil from state subsoil are arrested

Based on the materials of the State Bureau of Investigation, the court seized the corporate rights of three companies that misappropriated the subsoil of the Sakhalin oil and gas field.

The seized assets include:

• Sakhalinskoye LLC;
• Sirius-1 LLC;
• East Up Petroleum LLC.

The rights have been transferred to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).

In February 2023, the State Bureau of Investigation, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, uncovered the illegal activities of former high-ranking officials who received illegal excess profits from gas extraction from the state subsoil. The damage to the state may reach hundreds of millions of hryvnia.

Law enforcement officers conducted searches at the residence of a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VIII convocation. He, in prior conspiracy with officials of NJSC Nadra Ukrayiny, the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources, Sakhalinske LLC and commercial structures, in fact embezzled state mineral resources in the period 2003-2022.

Under the "patronage" of the former deputy, state agencies issued special permits for gas extraction in blatant violation of procedures. As a result, the natural resources were much cheaper on paper and the actual production volumes of the state-owned field were underestimated. The difference was pocketed by the organisers of the fraud.

In particular, according to the investigation, due to the illegal activities of officials of NJSC Nadra Ukrayiny and a number of commercial entities, Ukraine de facto lost the right to the Sakhalin oil and gas field in the Kharkiv region.

This is despite the fact that more than UAH 1 billion has been spent from the state budget on exploiting this area. According to geological exploration data, there are at least 15 billion cubic metres of gas in the field.

Investigations are underway within the framework of criminal proceedings for abuse of office with serious consequences (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine is providing procedural guidance.