Kobolyev / Photo from UNIAN
This is the money the company lost during the purchase of the so-called 'Boyko drilling rigs' in 2010.
Chief Executive Officer of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolyev has said the company will assist the Swiss law enforcement agencies in the case of money laundering by the former company's leadership.
"We thank the Swiss law enforcement agencies and assist the investigation as much as possible – the perpetrators of the transactions should be punished, and the money should be returned to Ukrainian citizens," he wrote on Facebook.
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"The Swiss Prosecutor's Office is investigating a case of money laundering by the leadership of Naftogaz under Yanukovych's presidency. As part of this case, CHF 60 million has been already blocked in Swiss bank accounts. This is the money the company lost during the purchase of the so-called 'Boyko drilling rigs' in 2010," Kobolyev added.
UNIAN memo. Since 2014, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has been investigating the possible laundering by Chornomornaftogaz officials of state funds worth US$400 million during the purchase of overpriced drilling rigs for oil and gas production on the Black Sea shelf.
According to the investigation, in 2011, when purchasing self-rising floating drilling rigs, the managers of Chornomornaftogaz and Naftogaz made gross violations of tender procedures. Chornomornaftogaz acquired two drilling rigs for US$400 million and US$398 million, while their market value, according to the PGO, was US$210 million and US$179 million, respectively. These drilling rigs are called "Boyko drilling rigs" after the then Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Boyko (the current head of the Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction).
In the framework of the criminal case, these drilling rigs were seized under a ruling of Kyiv's Pechersk district court in December 2015, but later Russia took them over after the annexation of Crimea.
Ukrainian-controlled 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.