Medvedchuk testifies against Poroshenko in case of petroleum product pipeline's withdrawal from state ownership, coal purchases from LPR/DPR - SBU
KYIV. May 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Viktor Medvedchuk, detained by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), claims that he supervised the withdrawal of the Samara-West petroleum product pipeline from state ownership on the orders from then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the national administration approved coal purchases from the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.
The SBU said on Telegram on Monday that Medvedchuk, charged with treason and aiding and abetting terrorism, told the investigators how a section of the Samara-West trunk petroleum product pipeline was withdrawn from state ownership and used for pumping diesel fuel.
While explaining the essence of the operation, Medvedchuk spelled out the role played by Poroshenko, who, in particular, ensured that relevant decisions were made by all Ukrainian agencies, the SBU said.
"It was necessary to take a number of actions in order to make this pipeline private or, actually, make it the property of Poroshenko...The courts, the prosecution service, the Anti-Monopoly Committee and the State Property Fund, all of them made decisions that accommodated the personal interests of President Poroshenko," the SBU quoted the detainee as saying.
Medvedchuk assured the investigators that he dealt with the pipeline situation at Poroshenko's request, the SBU said.
"Over a year in operation, the pipeline earned twice as much as invested in its buyout, up to $42 million, for its owners. The pipeline stopped transporting diesel fuel in May 2019, after the presidential term of Poroshenko expired," it said.
According to the SBU, Medvedchuk also told the investigators about details of the approval of a mechanism for buying coal from areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions not controlled by Kyiv in 2014-2015.
"Practically all members of the administration, from the president to ministers, law enforcers and those who brought the plan to life were involved in that," the SBU quoted Medvedchuk as saying.
Medvedchuk identified high-ranking persons who did damage to Ukraine, including former officials, the former management of the National Bank of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada deputies and law enforcement officers, the SBU said.
"The Security Service is continuing investigative procedures with the detainee to establish all facts, circumstances and the names of the organizers and partners in crime," it said.
The SBU noted that it detained Medvedchuk in April, following his escape from house arrest.
The SBU brought several charges against Medvedchuk in 2021, including treason, aiding and abetting a terrorist network, and an attempt to embezzle national resources in Crimea, which Kyiv views as temporary occupied territory.
One of the charges is related to the illegal purchases of coal from the DPR/LPR for cash.
The illegal ownership of a section of a state petroleum product pipeline, whose value exceeds UAH 200 million, by Prikarpatzapadtrans LLC is the subject matter of yet another criminal case. The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) reinstated the state ownership of the pipeline in February 2021.