Ukraine exposes suspected $6.8 million fraud in gas sector
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Two people have been charged over a suspected scheme involving a state-owned gas company and costing the state Hr 295 million ($6.8 million), Ukrainian law enforcement authorities said on April 6.
Former managers at the state-owned Ukrgazvydobuvannya gas company and affiliated businesspeople organized a scheme to inflate the costs of materials used for gas production, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported.
An employee of Ukrgazvydobuvannya and the head of a supplier company have been charged with embezzlement, authorities reported.
The scheme was uncovered in a joint operation by the SBU, the Economic Security Bureau (BEB), and the Prosecutor General's Office. Efforts to identify other participants are ongoing.
The scheme allegedly involved controlled companies submitting coordinated bids to create the impression of fair competition while ensuring that a predetermined company would win.
"Shell companies bought the materials needed for gas extraction at real market prices. These goods were then repeatedly 'resold' from one company to another," Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said.
These transactions artificially inflated the product's final price by two to three times before it was sold to the state-owned company, the top prosecutor noted.
The resulting difference in value was then pocketed by the scheme's organizers, according to BEB.
Ukrgazvydobuvannya is Ukraine's largest natural gas producer and a subsidiary of the state-owned Naftogaz energy group.
Ukrainian gas infrastructure has faced unprecedented intensity of Russian aerial attacks last year as Moscow sought to knock out Ukraine's energy grid.
Ukraine's energy sector has also come under increased scrutiny following a major corruption scandal involving top officials and figures close to President Volodymyr Zelensky, uncovered in November 2025.
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