Naftogaz takes Firtash’s gas networks, but does so without respect for OGTS. What’s happening?
Why the nationalization of gas networks by Dmitry Firtash according to the model chosen by Naftogaz threatens with 17 billion in losses and bankruptcy of the operator of the Ukrainian gas transmission system, he is interested EP?
At the beginning of the year, Naftogaz started the final offensive on the remains of the gas business of Dmitry Firtash.
After the state-owned company without much difficulty selected the supplier company of the oligarch has about 8 million customers, the turn has come to the regional gas companies distributing blue fuel.
Last week, the businessman had already lost physical control over the gas networks in two regions: Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk. Firtash called it a raider takeover, Naftogaz replied that everything within the law.
It is obvious that the decision on the next act of deoligarchization was made at the highest level, and when they come to the remaining 18 companies is a matter of time. This could happen in the coming weeks or months.
However, not only Firtash will suffer from this, but also the state-owned company GTS Operator (OGTS), which pumps gas to the EU and whose work depends on whether gas gets into the homes of Ukrainians during the most difficult heating season.
The operator’s management warns that nationalization according to the model chosen by Naftogaz threatens the OGTS with billions in losses and will lead it to bankruptcy.
Why can the state lose almost UAH 17 billion and why is the GTS Operator dissatisfied?
Try number one
For the first time, plans to transfer 26 regional gas companies, 20 of which were controlled by Firtash’s company, the rest were other small players, became known in May 2022 under the control of the state-owned Naftogaz.
The basis for this decision was case State Bureau of Investigation to collect rent from regional gas companies for the right to use gas networks. Investigators estimated the damage to the state at almost UAH 1.5 billion.
However, Firtash’s managers declared the decision unlawful and challenged it in court. At least until the end of 2022, RGC retained control over the assets. Shortly before the resignation from the post of head of Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko also admitted this.
“It was decided to transfer regional gas companies to the management of Naftogaz, but this decision has not yet been implemented,” he said in September. According to Vitrenko, the company met resistance from RHC managers.
“Work continues. So far, we cannot say that we have already begun to manage and really control these regional gas companies of Firtash, ”he summed up.
The key problem along the way was the RGC litigation and the resistance of Firtash’s managers. After last year’s unsuccessful attempts, Naftogaz decided to change tactics and resume the offensive.
LLC “Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine”
To integrate the arrested packages of regional gas companies in September, Naftogaz created LLC “Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine” (GRMU). It was headed known in Dnipro lawyer Denis Mirgorodsky.
The founder of the company with a 100% share was the subsidiary of Naftogaz, the Gas of Ukraine company.
According to the publication Our Money, which specializes in identifying corruption in public procurement, such an ownership structure contains corruption risks and will allow money to be withdrawn from the company through tenders.
“This LLC will not be “tendered” in Prozorro at all, because our deputies decided: if your founder is not the state, but a state-owned company, then by law you are not considered a customer.
You can buy from whomever you want, whatever you want and for as much as you want, and not even show the prices,” says NG journalist Yuri Nikolov.
According to him, only the political will of the first persons of the state, expressed in the mind of law enforcement officers, can prevent a negative development of events.
However, the problem of non-transparent withdrawal of money from the new structure, if it arises, is only in the future. For the time being, the leadership of the GRMU is focused on another important task: to collect all gas networks under one roof.
How would this happen?
“Gazseti” register a branch in the region where oblgas, NERC is registered issues to him a license to carry out activities, in parallel cancels such a license for oblgas and transfers the necessary equipment for use to a new branch.
December scheme have tried at Kirovogradgaz, which has been controlled by Naftogaz since 2017.
Three days before the New Year, the GRMU reported on the successful completion of the transfer of the asset to the new LLC. The problem is that Naftogaz ignored the interests of the GTS Operator, which will receive UAH 268 million from this reshuffle. losses.
Where did the debt come from? According to the ex-director of GTS Operator Sergey Makogon, problems with settlements between OGTS and regional gas companies began to arise in 2021, when gas prices rose rapidly.
Naftogaz simply refused to sell gas for technological needs even to its regional gas companies, so Kirovogradgaz simply took gas from the GTS without payment (other regional gas companies did the same – EP).
Now, by creating Gas Networks, they have refused to solve the debt problem that Naftogaz managers created in 2021-2022 before the GTS Operator,” says Makogon.
268 million UAH is just the tip of the iceberg. Soon the guaranteed damage to the OGTS will increase tenfold, and the authorities know about it.
Firtash is next. Pays again OGTS
The transfer of Kirovogradgaz to the newly created LLC is a formality, since this regional gas company already controlled Naftogaz. This is only the first stage, the next one is Firtash’s gas networks, and this process started last week.
On Monday, RGC accused Naftogaz of trying to change the board of Dneprogaz and Kharkivgaz and thus carry out a “raider takeover” of these companies with the forceful support of police officers.
Naftogaz emphasized that everything happened within the framework of the law.
The new heads of the companies were people who worked for Firtash more than a decade ago, and before that, for the “young oligarch” Sergei Kurchenko, who fled the country in 2014 after the Revolution of Dignity, and for the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
Footage of Kurchenko and Vekselberg
Chair of the head of “Dneprogaz” took Bogdan Popyuk, who in 2004-2013 worked at Zhytomyrgaz, Nikolaevgaz, Zaporizhgaga and headed Ivano-Frankivskgaz.
At that time, some of these regional gas companies were part of the Renova group of the Russian Vekselberg, who sold Firtash in 2012.
In 2010-2013 Popuk was a company director Gas Ukraine 2020 and worked as a deputy head at Lidergag. These companies were part of the Kurchenko empire.
Director of “Kharkovgaz” became Anatoly Bystray, who in 2009-2012 led Kryvorizhgaz. Then he also belonged to Vekselberg, and then entered the RGC Firtash.
Since 2017, Bystray also belonged to the Poltava cell of the Osnova party of Sergei Taruta.
Despite the change in leadership, the two Gazseti companies are in no hurry to report on the successful transfer of assets under state control, as was the case with Kirovogradgaz.
According to the interlocutors of the EP in Naftogaz, this is due to the fact that it is difficult to name the operation carried out last week successfully.
“It seems that they did not prepare at all, did not develop plans in case of force majeure. As a result, they entered the enterprise, but RGC turned off billing and they cannot receive data on gas withdrawal. In fact, they did not control the enterprise,” the source said.
“When we once entered Donetskoblgaz (before that it was controlled by Kurchenko’s managers – EP), then everything was calculated in advance. Therefore, he immediately and without any problems came under the control of Naftogaz.
In this case, everything turned out to be not so simple. We will see how it all ends, but the beginning is like this, ”summed up the interlocutor of the EP.
Multibillion-dollar debts of OGTS are up in the air
Guaranteed multi-billion dollar losses of GTS Operator remain the main problem. It was decided not to take into account his interests in this story, although the authorities were informed about the risks.
Knowing about the plans of Naftogaz, the director of the OGTS in December wrote letters to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Energy, the National Tariff Commission, the Office of the President and the National Security and Defense Council, in which he warned of possible negative consequences.
The essence of the document is that the process launched in this form threatens the OGTS with the loss of UAH 16.8 billion. The indicated amount is the debts of oblgas companies to the GTS Operator, which, apparently, the authorities decided to simply “forgive”.
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23581433/ogtsu.pdf
“The termination of contracts for the operation of gas distribution systems or their components with GRM operators (oblgases – EP) and the subsequent cancellation of licenses raises concerns that the debts of oblgases to the GTS Operator will not be repaid,” Pavel Stanchak, head of the OGTS, notes in a letter.
Even if Ukraine is ready to put up with the write-off of almost 17 billion hryvnia. debts, this does not solve the problem, and in the future this situation may happen again.
The key reason is that the authorities do not want to resort to complex solutions.
“No one wants to solve the problem systematically. This is very dangerous, because in two or three years you can accumulate many times more debts, make another such “transfer” to a new LLC and not pay again,” Makogon is indignant.
Nikolai Topalov, translation Skeleton.Info
