Naftogaz of Ukraine

State monopoly with private appetites

NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" is a state energy company that controls the extraction, transportation, storage, and supply of gas and oil. In fact — a natural monopoly on which the entire energy system of the country depends. And this very monopoly has served for years as a feeding trough for management and circles close to the authorities.

Bonus for winning the court case — and a criminal case

Former chairman Andriy Kobolev was suspected by NABU and SAP of embezzling over UAH 229 million in 2018. This concerns the bonus for the victory in the Stockholm arbitration against Gazprom for $4.6 billion — the supervisory board approved the payment of 1% of the winning amount. Kobolev also did not pay UAH 66 million in taxes from this same bonus and is trying to prove in the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) that the company, not he, should bear the expenses. 

UAH 13.8 billion from Ukrnafta — and UAH 48 billion in the shadows

In 2025, NABU and SAP uncovered a scheme of embezzling UAH 13.8 billion from Ukrnafta, controlled by Naftogaz: in 2015 the company sold oil worth UAH 10.7 billion to fictitious firms which did not make full payments but received the goods. Separately, a parliamentary commission established that from 2020 to 2024 the gas transmission system operator transferred UAH 48 billion — 30% of revenues — to Naftogaz as "reimbursement" for Russian gas transit, which was not reflected in the reports and allowed tax and dividend payments to the budget to be avoided.

Russian fuel under Turkish labeling

Controlled structures concealed the Russian origin of fuel from Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, and Rosneft, registering it as imports from Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Baltic countries. Financial flows passed through multi-currency accounts, including Russian rubles.