Three regional gas companies belonging to exiled oligarch Dmytro Firtash are currently being investigated for allegedly inflating gas prices in their regions, according to a statement by state-owned oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz on March 19.
Vinnicagaz, Volyngaz and Kyivoblgaz are alleged to have altered coefficients in their price formulas since October 2018 in order to swell gas supply volumes and overcharge private consumers.
An investigation into the regional gas supply companies was requested by the government at the end of December, and the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities, or NCSEP, launched the probe in early March.
The Kyiv Post tried to contact the regional gas companies involved for comment, but they did not reply.
Private consumers were overcharged by 1-1.5 percent in October 2018, and then the numbers jumped between 5-10 percent in December and January 2019, according to Naftogaz.
The commission first noticed the overcharging in November, and ordered the local gas companies to alter the price formulas.
The local gas companies allegedly disregarded this new regulation and continued to illegally apply coefficients that increased over time, especially for residential consumers without gas meters.
The commission’s report found that all three regional gas companies overcharged their customers and violating their licensing conditions.
Oleksiy Khabatiuk, the deputy head of energy efficiency at Naftogaz, wrote on Twitter that all of the companies involved “understood the illegality of their actions from the beginning.”
The results of the inspection will be reviewed by the NCSEP on March 22.
The commission already intends to fine each local company Hr 850,000 and force them to recalculate their prices “for all household consumers.”
Checks on gas supply companies will continue nationwide until mid-April.
Seventy percent of Ukraine’s regional gas distribution companies are owned by Firtash.
These networks were created under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, who was overthrown by the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2014. Today they collectively owe Naftogaz $2.2 billion for unpaid gas supplies. In addition, Firtash and others have the advantage of selling subsidized gas to households through opaque arrangements, creating even more debt for Naftogaz.
Firtash is in exile in Austria fighting extradition to the United States on corruption charges. He denies the charges made against him.
