The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on May 19 criticized prosecutors for closing the Rotterdam+ corruption case for the fourth time. The bureau said it would appeal the decision.
The Rotterdam+ pricing scheme benefited oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s energy company DTEK, which repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
The Prosecutor General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Under the scheme, regulators raised energy prices across Ukraine, supposedly to pay for the delivery of coal from Rotterdam when Ukraine was worried about a coal shortage.
Only about 5% of coal came from abroad and none of it was from Rotterdam.
This means that the Ukrainian public overpaid Hr 39 billion for electricity over three years, money that DTEK allegedly pocketed, according to the NABU. Investigators alleged that DTEK cooked up the scheme in collusion with energy officials, something both the company and the officials denied.
The NABU said that the case had been closed by anti-corruption prosecutor Denys Demkiv, who was appointed by Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova earlier in May to oversee the case. Previously the case had been overseen by prosecutor Vitaly Ponomarenko, who closed it three times in a row.
The NABU said it doubts the objectivity of Demkiv, who made his decision without consulting the bureau’s detectives and properly researching case materials.
According to the bureau, Demkiv ignored prosecutors and detectives who asked to discuss the case with him.
The Rotterdam+ case was closed by Ponomarenko in August 2020, January 2021 and April 2021.
After each closure, the High Anti-Corruption Court and acting Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Maksym Hryshchuk restored the case.
