The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) have collected a large-scale evidence base proving the illegality of the privatisation of the Samara-Western Direction state oil pipeline in 2015, the SBU press service reports.
At present, former MP Viktor Medvedchuk and four representatives of the former top management of Prykarpatzakhidtrans, who took possession of and managed the pipeline, have been served with a notice of suspicion.
In accordance with the crimes committed, under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, the suspicion was served under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- p. 3 Art. 27, Art. 28, Art. 365-2 (abuse of power by persons providing public services);
- p. 3 of Article 27, part 3 of Article 28, part 2 of Article 384 (misleading a court or other authorised body);
- p. 3, Art. 27, Art. 191(5) (misappropriation of property by an official through abuse of office, committed on a particularly large scale by an organised group);
- p. 3 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 209 (organisation of acquisition, possession and use of funds as a result of a socially dangerous illegal act preceding the legalisation (laundering) of proceeds, committed by an organised group and on a particularly large scale).
According to the case file, the organiser of the illegal privatisation scheme was former MP Viktor Medvedchuk, who is suspected by the SBU of high treason. According to the available data, he started implementing the scheme in 2015 and acted in close coordination with the then top political leadership of Ukraine and Russia.
Medvedchuk involved third parties in the scheme, who later received senior positions at the company that "privatised" the oil pipeline.
According to the case file, the Samara-Western Direction oil pipeline remained in Russian ownership after the collapse of the USSR. Starting in 2005, Ukraine has been proving its right to own it through the courts, and only in 2014-2015 was this right confirmed by the Appellate and Supreme Economic Courts. However, with the support of Ukraine's top leadership at the time, Medvedchuk managed to overturn this decision through the Rivne Commercial Court and arrange the sale of the pipeline to a Swiss company, which was effectively controlled by the participants in the scheme.
After taking possession of the pipeline, Medvedchuk and his accomplices ensured its operation through the Prykarpatzakhidtrans company, and withdrew the profits to the accounts of affiliated foreign companies and distributed them among themselves.
The relevant information is supported by the evidence available to the NABU and the SBU, as well as by Viktor Medvedchuk's own testimony, which he voluntarily and knowingly provided to the Russian Federation.
Since May 2019, the pumping of diesel through the pipeline has been blocked to return it to state ownership, while law enforcement agencies have been investigating the legality of the privatisation. In January 2024, the Supreme Court of Ukraine finally recognised the Ukrainian part of the pipeline as state property.
The pre-trial investigation is currently ongoing. A set of measures is being taken to bring the suspects, who are located abroad, to justice, as well as to establish the circle of all those involved in this illegal transaction.