Ukraine has seized over $200 mln in assets of oligarch Dmytro Firtash who was previously sanctioned for selling titanium products that Kyiv said ended up being used by Russian military enterprises.
In the latest case, three more top managers of the Regional Gas Company, the company he controls received “notices of suspicion” of embezzlement.
According to the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, the chairman of the board of AT Kryvorizhgas has been charged with causing $5,5 damages to the state, the chairman of the board of AT Volyngas – over $3.5 million, and the chairman of the board of AT Chernihivgas – over $6 million.
The investigation found that the actual head of the Regional Gas Company Dmytro Firtash organized a scheme for the unauthorized extraction of gas from Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System (GTS). The company operates 70% of gas distribution networks in Ukraine.
To cover the expenses of the company for the extracted gas, the regional gas distribution companies transferred funds to a company under Firtash’s control in significantly larger amounts than supplied gas.
Firtash made his fortune through the trading of natural gas. In 2004, he established a business partnership with Gazprom, a Russian company, to facilitate the import of natural gas from Central Asia to Ukraine
In 2023, Ukraine’s State Security Agency served Firtash with “notices of suspicion” of embezzlement. The oligarch’s company Group DF rejected all allegations.
