By KYIV. May 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The court, at the repeated request of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), repeatedly sized the corporate rights of PJSC Ukrnaftoburinnia and transferred them to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).
“On May 3, the Kyiv District Court overturned its earlier decision to seize the corporate rights of PJSC Ukrnaftoburinnia at the request of the company’s lawyer. With the principled position of the State Bureau of Investigations and the Prosecutor General’s Office, the next day, May 4, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv repeatedly seized the aforementioned enterprise and transferred it to the ARMA management,” the SBI said in a statement.
As reported, in early April 2023, the SBI said that the court had seized the corporate rights of Sakhalynske; Sirius-1; East Europe Petroleum and transferred them to the ARMA because they illegally appropriated the subsoil of the Sakhalynske field.
In addition, on April 7, 2023, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv seized the corporate rights of Ukrnaftoburinnia, and on April 11 decided to transfer them to the ARMA management. A stake of 44.989% of Deripon Commercial Ltd (Cyprus) in Ukrnaftoburinnia, 22.4996% of Ariana Business Limited (the UK), 22.4996% of Ares Systems Ltd (the UK) is canceled ) and 10% JKX Ukraine B.V. (Netherlands) were seized.
In August 2016, Vitaliy Khomutynnik announced that he owns Deripon on a parity basis with Ihor Kolomoisky. In 2021, Pavlo Fuks also confirmed the presence of a stake in Ukrnaftoburinnia, but his participation in it is less than that of Kolomoisky and Khomutynnik.
Investigators established that officials of NJSC Nadra Ukrainy, the State Geology and Subsoil Service of Ukraine, PrJSC Devon, Sakhalynske LLC, Sirius-1, Ukrnaftoburinnia and East Europe Petroleum in the period 2000-2023 made changes to the conditions of a number of agreements on joint activities for the industrial development of the Sakhalynske gas condensate field, causing damage to state interests.
Ukrnaftoburinnia stated that it would challenge the decision to seize and transfer the corporate rights of the company to the ARMA management. The company’s management insists on a full-fledged trial to establish all the facts and make fair and reasonable decisions, considers these actions unlawful and regards them as an attempt to seize the assets of a private business.
Ukrnaftoburinnia is one of the largest private gas producing companies in Ukraine. Since 2010, it has been developing the Sakhalynske oil and gas condensate field (Krasnokutsky district, Kharkiv region) with reserves of 15 billion cubic meters of gas. The company’s gross production in 2020 amounted to 725.4 million cubic meters of gas and 80,800 tonnes of oil and condensate, in 2021 it were 691.3 million cubic meters and 76,600 tonnes respectively.
In general, gas production at the Sakhalynske field in 2020 reached 844.3 million cubic meters and 86,000 tonnes of oil and gas condensate, in 2021 it were 789.5 million cubic meters and 80,800 tonnes.
