The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on Oct. 29 that the Zakarpattia region is currently on the verge of ecological catastrophe due to illegal actions by Prykarpatzakhidtrans, a firm accused of having links to pro-Kremlin lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk. The politician denied owning it.
Prikarpatzahidtrans previously owned a part of the Samara-West pipeline, which transported oil products from Russia through Western Ukraine to Europe. In February, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the National Security and Defense Council decided to nationalize the Ukrainian part of the about 1,433-kilometers-long pipeline after sanctioning Medvedchuk and his businesses.
Now, after nationalization, the state-owned Naftogaz is supposed to maintain and operate it.
According to the SBU, back in 2018, Prikarpatzahidtrans arbitrarily began dismantling the reserve branch of the Samara-West pipeline. It took apart 33 kilometers of the pipeline and multiple tanks.
“All this was made without any official permits,” the security agency said in a statement, noting that the company secretly ‘buried’ hazardous waste from the tanks in the ground to make a profit.
SBU believes this may have severely damaged the environment in the region.
“According to experts, those actions led to severe consequences of pollution and damage to land, which would cost the state Hr 34 million (~ $1.3 million).”
Law enforcement officers have charged the former chief engineer of the Prikarpatzahidtrans with negligence.
Fuel Pipeline from Russia
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Samara-West pipeline was acquired by Russia. 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, 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 was one of the directors, received 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 was an attempt by Medvedchuk to make sure that his asset was safe even if Poroshenko loses the 2019 presidential election.
Controversial lawmaker
Viktor Medvedchuk is a Ukrainian citizen but has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather of his daughter. He is the leader of the pro-Kremlin party Opposition Platform – For Life and is currently under house arrest amidst an ongoing investigation against him for treason, terrorism, and other charges.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that in 2014, months after Russia invaded Crimea and Donbas, Medvedchuk derailed Ukraine’s attempt to buy coal from South Africa. Instead, he allegedly orchestrated an illegal scheme to supply coal from Russian-occupied Donbas to state-owned enterprises in Ukraine.
The SBU published audio tapes of a man alleged to be Medvedchuk discussing the scheme with top Russian officials and their proxies in Donbas. The audiotapes reveal Medvedchuk’s communications with then-Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, President Vladimir Putin’s top aide Vladyslav Surkov and Vladimir Ostrovenko, deputy chief of Putin’s administration.
The SBU alleges that Medvedchuk and his associate Serhiy Kuzyara opened bank accounts and signed coal shipping contracts with leaders of the Russian-controlled militants.
Later, the coal was shipped to Russia, rebranded as Russian, and shipped to Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Centrenergo. Kremlin-led militants, fighting against Ukrainian troops, received more than Hr 200 million ($7 million) from Ukraine due to this deal.
Power shortages and periodic blackouts followed Medvedchuk’s attempt to force Ukraine to buy coal from occupied Donbas, the prosecution alleges.
If found guilty, Medvedchuk is looking at up to 15 years in prison.
