The High Anti-Corruption Court on Feb. 23 ordered the seizure of an oil product pipeline owned by Prikarpatzahidtrans, a firm accused of having links to pro-Kremlin lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk. The politician denies owning it.
The assets were seized as part of an investigation into the allegedly unlawful transfer of the pipeline to entities linked to Russia in 2015, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
The decision was based on evidence provided by the NABU and the Security Service of Ukraine.
The pipeline will be transferred to the Assets Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).
On Feb. 19, Zelensky signed a decree to implement a decision by the National Security and Defense Council to return the pipeline to the state.
The move is part of the Feb. 19 sanctions imposed by the council on Medvedchuk, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his associates.
Prikarpatzahidtrans is part of the Samara-West pipeline, which transports oil products from Russia through Western Ukraine to Europe.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the pipeline was acquired by Russia but later a court transferred it to the Ukrainian government.
However, in 2015, a court in Rivne Oblast gave the pipeline back to Russia’s state-controlled oil pipeline monopoly Transneft.
In 2015, Transneft sold Prikarpatzahidtrans to International Trading Partners, which is owned by German citizen Anatoly Shefer. Ukraine’s Anti-Monopoly Committee, which was controlled by allies of then President Petro Poroshenko, authorized the acquisition.
Shefer has had some business connections to Medvedchuk. In 2013-2014, ITC Industry Trading Company SA, where Shefer is one of the directors, received a Hr 5.7 million prepayment from Ukraine’s Agrotekhnika to supply grain to Ukraine. Agrotekhnika is co-owned by Medvedchuk’s wife Oksana Marchenko and his ally, lawmaker Taras Kozak.
In 2019, Ukraine’s Anti-Monopoly Committee also allowed Belarus’ Oil and Bitumen Plant to acquire a stake in Prikarpatzahidtrans. The decision was drafted by Andriy Vovk, who had previously worked at Poroshenko’s Ukrprominvest group.
Sergii Leshchenko, who was then an independent lawmaker, saw the Belarusian plant as a front for Medvedchuk and believed this is an attempt by Medvedchuk to make sure that his asset is safe even if Poroshenko loses the 2019 presidential election.
Leshchenko is a former journalist who has been watching Medvedchuk for nearly two decades. He is now a Kyiv Post columnist.
He said in 2019 that the Oil and Bitumen Plant would be treated as a bona fide buyer, and the new Ukrainian government may not want to spoil relations with Belarusian authorities.
Leshchenko also linked the acquisition to Medvedchuk’s recent visit to Belarus and his meeting with its President Alexander Lukashenko in January.
Poroshenko’s spokesman Sviatoslav Tsegolko did not respond to requests for comment.
Medvedchuk sanctions
The seizure of the pipeline come amid sweeping sanctions imposed on Medvedchuk and his allies.
On Feb. 2, Zelensky signed a decree issuing personal sanctions against pro-Russian lawmaker Taras Kozak, a Medvedchuk ally, and his three nationwide TV channels – NewsOne, Channel 112, and ZIK. As a result of Zelensky’s decree, the channels were immediately shut down.
The sanctions mean a five-year restriction on financial operations, freezing of assets, the nullification of all permits and licenses issued to Kozak and to companies he officially owns.
On Feb. 19, the National Security and Defense Council also imposed sanctions on Medvedchuk himself.
Overall, the council imposed three-year sanctions on eight people and 19 companies, all for financing terrorism. All of them are linked to Medvedchuk.
Among the sanctioned citizens is Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, who is the official owner of most of the family’s business assets.
As a result of the sanctions, all assets owned by Medvedchuk and his associates will be frozen.
