Businessman Rovt assesses intensification of gas theft case worth almost EUR5 mln as protection of investors' rights in Ukraine
The activities of the Prosecutor General's Office indicate the active position of the state in protecting business and confirm that violations of investors' rights will not go unnoticed, believes the American businessman of Ukrainian origin, president of IBE Trade Corp, candidate of economic sciences Alexander Rovt.
In a release provided to Interfax-Ukraine on Monday by the AVER LEX bar association, Rovt cites as an example of the activities of the Prosecutor General's Office that provided the basis for such conclusions the report of suspicion in the case of a group of unscrupulous individuals seizing natural gas from an international company, "which he knows well," for EUR4.95 million.
According to Rovt, this company has been fighting for the restoration of its rights for more than four years within the framework of criminal proceedings initiated in 2021, but, despite the evidence of the crime collected by the investigation and the company's defense, the suspects were not served with charges and the investigation did not progress further.
However, as he emphasized, the company's appeal to Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko gave impetus to this case, and on August 21, the former businessman was officially notified of the suspicion of organizing a fraudulent gas scheme.
Rovt also noted that the investigation conducted a detailed analysis of financial flows, checked the bank accounts of related companies and studied the contracts concluded by the suspect. According to him, experts were involved to audit gas transactions and assess the losses incurred, which allowed us to confirm the facts of fraud and illegal alienation of assets.
"For the first time in many years, we see that the state really cares and defends the rights of foreign business. This demonstrates that unscrupulous businessmen will not go unpunished, and the Ukrainian investment protection system is able to act effectively," Rovt emphasized, adding that in the conditions of post-war reconstruction, Ukraine especially needs foreign investments, and guarantees of their protection are a key factor for attracting capital.
He expressed hope that the case will be transferred to court in the near future, and emphasized that "it is possible and worthwhile to cooperate with Ukraine."
A few days ago, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on its Facebook that it had uncovered a scheme to seize almost EUR5 million from a Hungarian company and reported suspicion to a former businessman under Part 3 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in organizing a scheme to steal natural gas from this Hungarian supplier.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the company's investor is a well-known American businessman, a philanthropist of Ukrainian origin.
As reported there, the scheme itself, which began in 2018, consisted of creating or purchasing companies with a good reputation, appointing fictitious directors, concluding contracts with a large gas supplier, accumulating debts, selling gas to end consumers and misappropriating proceeds and bankrupting the companies. In particular, a foreign partnership was involved in the bankruptcy of one of the companies for an artificial debt of EUR11 million. To avoid liability, the organizer of the scheme hid money in the authorized capital of companies controlled by his daughters and wife, the Prosecutor General's Office claims.
