The NABU and the SAPO accuse former Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Ihor Nasalyk and former Director of the Oil and Gas Complex Department of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry Oleksandr Lisnichenko of abuse of office to benefit gas distribution network (GDN) operators linked to businessman Dmytro Firtash.

According to the prosecution, Nasalyk signed operation agreements in order to grant private GDN operators advantages and benefits that effectively released them from the obligation to pay for the use of state property. This contravened the requirements of a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which mandated a payment of 10% of the residual book value of the property.

To carry out this plan, Nasalyk brought in Oleksandr Lisnichenko. Under the division of roles, Nasalyk was to ensure the formal delegation of authority, while Lisnichenko would directly conclude contracts with GDN operators that included terms allowing the mandatory payments to be avoided.

Accordingly, Nasalyk allegedly issued a power of attorney to Lisnichenko to represent the Ministry's interests, in particular to sign operation agreements and supplementary agreements concerning gas distribution networks. Lisnichenko then concluded operation agreements with 34 gas distribution network operators (including Vinnytsiagas, Lvivgas, Odesagas, and others). Through discrepancy sheets, terms were inserted into these contracts that effectively made the obligation to pay for the use of state property contingent on such costs being included in the NEURC tariff. This created conditions under which the payment was effectively never made.

Lisnichenko signed and sent the operators supplementary agreements to the operation agreements, even though they contained terms that contradicted the model contract and the applicable regulations. He also failed to initiate a proper resolution of the disagreements involving the relevant structural units of the Ministry. As a result, 34 GDN operators gained the ability to use state gas distribution networks free of charge, while the mandatory payments to the state budget went unmade.

Only some operators (in particular Odesagas JSC, Shepetivkagas PrJSC, and Ternopilmiskgas PrJSC) began making payments in accordance with the terms of the model contract, but the vast majority of the concluded agreements effectively nullified this obligation.

As a result of these actions, according to the investigation's calculations, the state budget lost UAH 1.485 billion in revenue.

The actions of Nasalyk and Lisnichenko were classified under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. According to the investigation, after being served with the notice of suspicion, Lisnichenko left the territory of Ukraine through the Shehyni border crossing point.

The pre-trial investigation was initially conducted by the SBI. After the suspicion was changed, the criminal proceedings were transferred to the NABU under the rules of investigative jurisdiction. The trial is currently ongoing at the HACC.

Former Energy Minister Ihor Nasalyk was also charged with entering false information in his asset declarations for 2015–2018. However, the HACC Appeals Chamber closed that case due to the absence of the elements of a criminal offense.