Case description
The NABU and the SAPO accused Serhii Svichenko, former director of Nadra Geocenter LLC, and Roman Huminichenko, former director of Kyivgasenergo Trading House LLC, of participating in the “gas scheme” of figitive former MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
The case of former MP Onyshchenko is one of the most high-profile that the NABU has investigated, and it began in 2015. Detectives believe that from 2013 to 2016, he organized a scheme to sell Ukrgasvydobuvannya’s gas to his companies using fictitious exchanges at reduced prices. The latter sold gas to consumers at market prices, and the scheme operated on the difference in cost.
The scheme's participants earned more than UAH 1.6 billion, while Ukrgasvydobuvannya suffered more than UAH 740 million in losses. The scheme involved 29 people, including former head of the SFS Roman Nasirov and Kharkiv judge Tetiana Denysiuk, in addition to Svichenko and Huminichenko.
According to the investigation, Svichenko submitted applications to commodity exchanges controlled by Onyshchenko indicating a lower price for natural gas. Svichenko, like Huminichenko, was the head of one of Onyshchenko’s companies that was awarded in the fictitious auctions for the sale of Ukrgasvydobuvannya’s gas.
Two criminal groups were formed in total. The individuals involved aimed to illegally seize funds generated from the sale of natural gas extracted by enterprises under their control — operators of joint activities with Ukrgazvydobuvannya: Nadra Heocenter LLC, Firm Khas LLC, and Karpatnadrainvest LLC.
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Following fictitious auctions, sales contracts were signed with shell companies, along with acceptance and transfer certificates, tax invoices, and other financial documents. To disguise the criminal activity, part of the funds was transferred to Ukrgazvydobuvannya accounts under the guise of joint activity profits. At the same time, rent payments were neither made nor settled, as their repayment was deferred through the State Fiscal Service.
According to the investigation, fictitious companies were also used in the scheme, with their directors signing knowingly false documents confirming participation in the auctions. Within the organization, special attention was paid to maintaining secrecy: all participants were required to follow informal disciplinary rules and avoid disclosing any information about the existence of the group.
Documents related to financial and business operations were either concealed or destroyed. In addition, participants regularly held meetings to coordinate a unified approach for dealing with law enforcement and to approve further actions.
Both defendants had been hiding in Russia for a long time. Svichenko was first detained on the Ukrainian-Russian border in 2016, and later disappeared after his house arrest had expired. He was detained in January 2021 at a checkpoint and taken into custody the next day. Huminichenko left for Russia back in 2016 and had been on the wanted list since then until May 2022, when he was discovered at a checkpoint.
Svichenko is accused of committing criminal offenses under Article 255(1), Article 191(5), and Article 366(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and Huminichenko’s actions are classified under Article 255(1) and Article 191(5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On June 15, 2023, the HACC consolidated the proceedings against Svichenko and Huminichenko, the consideration of the case on the merits is ongoing.
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