State Bureau of Investigation, Security Service charge ex-Naftogaz executive with causing UAH 26 mln loss

 

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), together with Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), has notified a former director for energy efficiency and asset management at Naftogaz Group that he is under suspicion of causing more than UAH 26 million in losses to the state.

According to the SBI report published on its website Friday, the Naftogaz executive, abusing his official position, prematurely signed a lease agreement for an administrative building in Kyiv before renovation work had been completed. The work continued for nearly three months after the lease contract was signed, during which time Naftogaz employees were unable to move into the new premises. Nevertheless, rent payments had already begun.

"As a result, the company incurred unnecessary expenses, and the state, represented by NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, suffered losses of more than UAH 26 million," the SBI wrote.

The former official has been charged with abuse of office (Part 2, Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), which carries a sentence of up to six years in prison.

The Office of the Prosecutor General is overseeing the case.

The SBI did not name the suspect, but it is likely referring to Vitaliy Scherbenko. In 2020, he headed Naftogaz's newly created Heat Energy business division, which managed the Novoyavorivska and Novorozdilska CHPs transferred from the State Property Fund. At the time, then-Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko praised his work in this area. Scherbenko was dismissed from his post as director for energy efficiency and asset management in 2022. Prior to his dismissal, media reported that Naftogaz was leasing office space for $500,000 per month.