Ukraine Anti-Corruption Agency Charges Oigarch Kolomoisky’s Associate Over Alleged $65m Ukrnafta Theft | Sahara Reporters

The suspects are accused of stealing about 100,000 tonnes of oil products and laundering the proceeds, according to the source.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has charged a business associate of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky over an alleged Hr 2.88 billion ($65 million) embezzlement scheme involving state-controlled oil producer Ukrnafta.

A law enforcement source told The KyivIndependent on September 15 that Mykhailo Kiperman, a co-owner of Kolomoisky’s Privat Group, is the alleged ringleader of the scheme.

NABU announced the investigation on September 15 but did not publicly identify the suspects.

Other suspects include Yevhen Krychevskyi, a shareholder in several oil and gas companies linked to Kolomoisky; Feliks Lunyov, a former vice president of Ukrnafta; Bohdan Baradnyi, chief executive officer of the Halychyna oil refinery, previously controlled by Kolomoisky; and Andriy Pinchuk, deputy chief executive officer of Ukrtatnafta, another company previously controlled by the oligarch.

The suspects are accused of stealing about 100,000 tonnes of oil products and laundering the proceeds, according to the source.

The Kyiv Independent said it had contacted the suspects for comments and would publish their responses when received.

Ukrnafta was previously co-owned by Kolomoisky’s Privat Group and state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz. Kolomoisky’s stake was nationalised in 2022 under martial law following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In 2023, he and alleged accomplices were charged with embezzling $250 million from PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest bank. The bank was nationalised in 2016 following allegations of mismanagement by Kolomoisky.