Coal from occupied Donbas traded under guise of RSA supplies – journalist investigation

It is noted that it is the Ukrainian coal mined in the areas beyond government control which the Ukrainian thermal power plants receive instead of the South African deliveries.

"Moreover, it’s the people close to Viktor Medvedchuk (involved in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the Donbas conflict settlement) who are behind these supplies," the article reads.

According to the investigation, in November 2015, the employee of Zmiyivska TPP, which is part of Centenergo, contacted the editorial, wishing to remain anonymous.

The man said that the rail carriages with coal started coming to the TPP without any supporting documentation.

It later emerged that a key participant in the deal was Arida Global Limited, registered in Hong Kong, which had previously supplied coal to Centrenergo.

But this time, according to the declaration of November 14, 2015, a copy of which is at the publication’s disposal, 76,000 tonnes of coal was purchased in South Africa. The vessel carrying the bulk was supposed to come to the Russian seaports in the Black Sea instead of the Ukrainian ones, according to the document.

The bulk was delivered to the border with Ukraine at Solovey-Topoli crossing point, to be acquired by Ukrinterenergo company. Then, this state-owned company resold it to Centrenergo, which in turn delivered the coal to the TPP, according to the investigation.

Also in the course of the investigation it was revealed where exactly the vessel was in the past six months. There are no Russian seaports mentioned in the report. So, in late October, when the vessel was supposed to move toward Europe, according to the estimates, she was cruising off the coast of Ghana.

The journalists also managed to catch the management of the TPP off guard: answering the question of the publication, whether Zmiyivska TPP received African coal, the plant manager Ihor Babenko said: "No," and hung up the phone.

In addition, one of the active traders, who asked not to disclose his name, also confirmed the sham transaction.

"Russian Black Sea ports do not accept the import,” said the source. “They might say that there is no custom clearance, as the coal is unloaded off coast onto a barge, but it is nonsense. This is the coal from Donbas. It is transported through the Russian territory under the guise of the South African supplies, because this way the price in dollars can be fixed and even increased due to supposedly sophisticated logistics."

According to him, the standard scheme of "legalization" of the Donbas coal is as follows: the coal is delivered to the station Gukovo in Russia, and from there it is directed to the Solovey-Topoli border crossing in Kharkiv region.

The coal traders interviewed by the publication attributed the company's success with Viktor Medvedchuk, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The editorial has also obtained a copy of the contract between Arida Global Limited and Centrenergo of December 2014 on the purchase of Russian coal. An individual named Nikita Poz is registered as a representative of Arida. He is also known as a shareholder of LLC Consul-Ukraine, which is engaged in the hotel business and which in turn leased the land from the TB clinic for the construction of a cottage house for Viktor Medvedchuk.

Also in 2012, a parliamentary candidate Taras Kozak stated the Private Counselor company owned by Nikita Poz as his employer.

Kozak has long worked in various positions in the State Customs Service. For some time, he was deputy head of this agency, and he also headed the Western Regional Customs.

Now he is an MP from the Opposition Bloc. He is also known in Parliament as a close ally of Viktor Medvedchuk. One of the traders told the newspaper that Kozak also acts as a negotiator representing Arida Global Ltd.