Prosecutors and the SBU detained a former top energy official

Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office, together with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), has detained Yurii Sheiko, former acting First Vice President of the state enterprise NNEGC Energoatom and former First Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine.

This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.

He is being prepared to be served with a notice of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (misappropriation of another person’s property through abuse of official position, committed on an especially large scale, by prior conspiracy by a group of persons).

The case concerns alleged manipulation in the заключение of a contract for mandatory insurance of civil liability for nuclear damage. The investigation found that on August 1, 2022, the official concluded a contract with PJSC Prosto-Insurance worth 105.642 million hryvnias.

Just 12 days later, on August 12, he signed an addendum and increased the contract amount to 130.925 million hryvnias, without, according to the prosecutor general, any economically justified explanation.

“Internal audits, documentary inspections, and a forensic economic examination confirmed that the cost of services was artificially inflated by 18.6 million hryvnias, and it was precisely this money that effectively disappeared from the strategic enterprise,” the statement said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office noted that when examining the ownership structure of PJSC Prosto-Insurance, investigators found a chain of affiliated companies leading to Russia’s financial sector.

“The investigation established that the main owner of Prosto-Insurance is the Cypriot company LAVIDIA LIMITED, which holds almost 100% of the authorized capital. Two other minority participants are PJSC Life and Pension and a citizen of Ukraine.

Next comes a chain of companies from Cyprus that own similar corporate rights and are linked to LAVIDIA LIMITED. Through this chain, the investigation identified a citizen of Armenia who controlled part of the operations, and a enterprise, R-Inter.

All of this ultimately leads to a single financial group—the Russian holding RESO. Its ultimate beneficial owners are Russian citizens,” Kravchenko said.

The statement also noted that PJSC Life and Pension, which also appears in the scheme, has among its shareholders a Russian citizen—the president of Russia’s RESO Holding Company.