"Black trace": Russian oil businesses continue operating in Ukraine – journalists

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (ACU) in 2017 allowed Swiss-based Glusco Energy to acquire Ukraine-based property of Russia's oil giant Rosneft, the investigative journalistic report says.

It turned out that Glasco and its formal Israeli owner Nissan Moiseev were actually much closer to Russia than Switzerland, according to the Hroshi TV program.

Moiseev is closely connected with Ukrainian politician and Vladimir Putin's friend Viktor Medvedchuk, which is confirmed by their joint charter voyage from Moscow to Kyiv recorded by journalists of the Skhemy (Schemes) TV program.

Therefore, despite the resale of the Rosneft network, it remains under Russia's influence via the odious politician Medvedchuk.

Read alsoCabinet not to allow monopolization of petroleum products market – GroysmanMoreover, Russian fuel businesses feel so confident in Ukraine that they even employ smuggling schemes. According to Liga.net, Glasco was selling fuel to Midgard oil trader, whom the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO) is suspecting of smuggling oil.

"And where is the oil from? This 'black' trace leads to Belarus. According to our information, the 'black gold' for Glasco comes from Belarus-based Mozyr Oil Refinery, where 42% of shares belong to Rosneft," the journalists of the Hroshi TV program report.

As reported, companies located in the Russian-occupied Donbas are Rosneft's regular customers.

In 2016, the Ukrainian army bought Rosneft fuel worth UAH 400 million from Medvedchuk's companies to fill tanks of their military equipment, according to the newspaper Nashi Hroshi," the journalists said.

"Therefore, de jure Swiss, but de facto Russian, oil businesses are operating in our country," the journalists summed up.