September 2014 was marked by the fact that individual candidates for deputy declared serious corruption in the fuel and energy complex in general, and the gas sector in particular.
As a reminder, on July 4, 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the law on the introduction of a state of emergency in the energy sector of Ukraine ("On a special period in the fuel and energy complex"), under which the direct management of pipeline transport enterprises and control over their activities are ensured by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the government is granted expanded powers. A total of 237 people's deputies voted in favor of this decision. The amendments stipulate that the settlement date is the date on which each of the settlement participants fixes the amount of accounts payable and receivable for repayment using the mechanisms defined by this law. The settlement date is set at January 1, 2013, and for state-owned enterprises, including those that were state-owned as of January 1, 2011, for obligations to pay for electricity - July 1, 2011. It is envisaged that the debt repayment procedure for fuel and energy enterprises is in effect until January 1, 2016.
At the same time, individual parliamentary candidates continue to manipulate public opinion regarding the current state of affairs in the fuel and energy sector in general, and the gas sector in particular. For example, on September 29, 2014, on the "Freedom of Speech" program on ICTV, a representative of a well-known political party, a member of parliament of several convocations, and a former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anatoly Gritsenko He pointed out that “by adopting bills No. 4117-a, and subsequently No. 4245-a, parliamentarians gave the government the right to manually restructure, that is, postpone for several years, or in other words, forgive the multi-billion dollar debts of the oligarchs who run the regional gas companies.”
The editorial staff of Vector News, understanding the importance of such a principle of civil society as "freedom of speech" and sharing the latest trends in modern judicial practice regarding the analysis of "value judgments," decided to ignore the expression "oligarchs who control regional gas companies," but wanted to find out what the real situation is with debt forgiveness at Gaz Ukrainy.
Initially, we established that a special period in the fuel and energy sector could indeed be established in Ukraine in 2014—a period of operation for the fuel and energy sector under conditions of restrictions and/or cessation of energy supplies to Ukraine, as well as in other cases defined by law. The corresponding bill on the special period in the fuel and energy sector, No. 4117a of June 18, 2014, was adopted in the first reading on July 4, 2014, as discussed above. However, it is currently being prepared for a second reading and, therefore, may undergo significant changes. In addition, there are several other bills under No. 4117, namely, the draft Law on the Special Operating Regime of the Gas Industrial Complex of Ukraine No. 4117a-1 of June 19, 2014, and the draft Law on the Special Period in the Fuel and Energy Complex No. 4117a-2 of June 25, 2014. However, all of them were rejected and withdrawn from consideration. None of these bills address additional powers for the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to restructure the debts of fuel and energy sector participants.
Regarding bill No. 4245-a, amending the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the taxation of charitable donations, it was not even allowed to be voted on and soon became irrelevant following the adoption of bill No. 4455-a, which regulates similar legal relations. Of course, this bill also makes no mention of Ukraine's gas industry.
On October 1, 2014, the editorial staff of Vector News learned of the existence of a press release from the State Corporation Gaz Ukrainy on this issue (a copy of the press release is attached).
It emphasizes that the State Corporation "Gas of Ukraine" has been actively implementing measures to combat corruption in the gas industry since the company was headed by O.V. Didenko (Order of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine No. 603 of August 28, 2014).
"The significant accounts receivable from business entities to Gaz Ukrainy State Corporation is a critical issue today. As a reminder, the Ukraine-IMF Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies (paragraph 23e) stipulates that Ukraine undertakes to strengthen the collection of accounts receivable to improve the financial position of Naftogaz Ukrainy, of which Gaz Ukrainy State Corporation is a subsidiary. To this end, a series of audits are being conducted of Gaz Ukrainy State Corporation officials and departments regarding the legitimacy of long-term debt restructuring agreements, including those for industrial consumers. During these audits, involving law enforcement agencies, the issue of recovering potential damages incurred during the conclusion of these agreements is also being considered," the press release states.
It should be noted that the inspections are being carried out on the basis of and in pursuance of a separate order of the Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine No. 04\17-734 dated September 18, 2014.
And the involvement of law enforcement agencies will occur as a result of the implementation of the government’s order (No. 34215 \ 1 \ 1-14 dated 09/15/2014) to Petrenko P.D., Avakov A.B., Yarema V.G. and Nalyvaichenko V.A. on the adoption of comprehensive measures to resolve this issue.
Moreover, the fundamental plan of activities of the State Corporation Gaz Ukrainy provides for the optimization of the organizational structure, a reduction in actual expenses for the maintenance of the apparatus and an increase in the efficiency of work with the enterprise's debt obligations in accordance with modern work-out rules. As a result of the implementation of this plan, by letter dated September 23, 2014, No. 31 \ 04-7599, the head of the State Corporation Gaz Ukrainy, O.V. Didenko, addressed the Minister of Justice of Ukraine P.D. Petrenko with a proposal to strengthen control over the status, completeness and timeliness of enforcement actions to collect funds under enforcement documents in favor of the State Corporation Gaz Ukrainy. It should be noted that as of October 1, 2014, 1575 enforcement proceedings were initiated for a total of UAH 8,051,939,325.00 (UAH 8,5 billion), which are at the stage of suspension due to the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings.
Ultimately, it can be argued that no "forgiveness of oligarch debts" is taking place; on the contrary, careful work is being carried out to improve the efficiency of debt collection.
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