Fugitive MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko / Photo from UNIAN
Plast has not met its obligations under the agreement.
The Supreme Court of Ukraine has refused to satisfy an appeal lodged by the privately owned company Plast, which is linked with fugitive Member of Parliament Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
The court upheld the ruling of the previous courts to invalidate an agreement on joint activities with state enterprise Chornomornaftogaz to develop the Striletske gas field near Russian-occupied Crimea, the Prosecutor General's Office has said on its website.
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"In March 2014, a joint operation agreement was concluded between the companies of Chornomornaftogaz and Plast, under which they had to jointly produce natural gas. However, only Chornomornaftogaz met its obligations. In particular, it contributed the right to use the gas fields as part of its joint activity obligations. Plast pledged to contribute UAH 71 million, but a mere UAH 1 million was allocated. Yet, it deliberately used state property contrary to the interests of the state and the public," the PGO said in a statement.
The Ukrainian budget fell short of UAH 20 million from the sale of gas produced under joint activities over Plast's actions, the PGO said.
According to the report, the claim for termination of the agreement was earlier satisfied by a court of first instance, and its ruling was supported by a court of appeals.
"Without leaving attempts to illegally make profit, the private firm appealed the decision of the courts, which satisfied the prosecutor's claim. Thanks to the PGO's active participation, the Supreme Court on May 31, 2018, ruled not to satisfy Plast's appeal and upheld the decision of the courts of previous instances," the PGO said.
UNIAN memo. Chornomornaftogaz is part of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine. It explores and produces crude oil and natural gas in the shelf of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It possesses 17 deposits, including 11 gas fields, four gas condensate fields and two oil fields. The total reserves of all the fields as of today are estimated at 58.56 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 1.231 million tonnes of gas condensate, and 2.530 million tonnes of crude oil.