Almost 300 million went missing: law enforcement uncovered a criminal scheme at "Ukrgazvydobuvannya"
State-owned gas — private profit: how a scheme worth hundreds of millions operated
As reported by the Security Service of Ukraine on April 6 2026, together with the Bureau of Economic Security and the Office of the Prosecutor General an illegal scheme in the field of natural gas extraction was uncovered. As a result of the measures taken, the criminal mechanism at JSC “Ukrgazvydobuvannya” was neutralized, which caused the state losses of over UAH 295 million.
According to the case materials, the organizers of the scheme were former company officials together with affiliated entrepreneurs. The investigation established that they embezzled funds allocated for procurements by artificially inflating the cost of materials needed for extraction.
In particular, controlled companies bought chemical additives and other products from manufacturers in Ukraine at market prices, after which they resold them to JSC “Ukrgazvydobuvannya” with markups of 2–3 times. The profit obtained was distributed among the scheme participants. The conclusions of the forensic economic examination confirmed that the state company suffered losses of more than UAH 295 million.
Currently, law enforcement have notified the head of a private company and a former company official who was responsible for organizing tenders of suspicion. They are accused under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The issue of imposing preventive measures is being considered. The pre-trial investigation continues; law enforcement are identifying all those involved in implementing this scheme.
Reminder: previously we wrote:
- Instead of heat – losses and accidents: a multimillion scheme uncovered in Mykolaiv region
- From the front – for sale: a scheme to steal hundreds of drones intended for the military worth tens of millions uncovered in Ukraine
- Work wasn’t checked, but the money was paid: strange million-hryvnia procurements surfaced in Mykolaiv region
- On paper they treated perfectly, but the budget shrank by UAH 21.3 million: suspicion for the director of the Korabelnyi district hospital
- Hospitals as “business”: over UAH 100 million stolen on fictitious services — suspicions also in Mykolaiv
