The Bureau of Economic Security (BES) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) continued searches at RGC enterprises on Monday, the press service of the group reported.

According to it, the reason for the searches was a criminal case initiated by the SBU on the purchase of natural gas for technological needs in the period from 2016 to 2022.

"Investigative measures are being taken to obtain illegal access to intellectual property, software products and solutions in the field of energy efficiency, metrology and gas distribution created by RGC," the statement said.

The group called on the authorities to engage in dialogue "in a civilized way to solve problems that have been accumulating in the gas distribution industry for years."

"These problems can only be solved by joint efforts and professional teams that have demonstrated their level of knowledge, skills, experience and patriotism, from the first days of the war, firmly maintaining the efficiency of gas distribution systems and restoring them after the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories," the report says.

As reported, on March 17, 2023, the SBU and the BES conducted large-scale searches in a number of city and regional gas companies, announcing the disclosure and liquidation of a large-scale scheme for the appropriation of natural gas by NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy from the gas transmission system.

According to the SBU, the top management of 16 regional gas enterprises in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Sumy, Rivne, Khmelnytsky, Chernihiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions were involved in organizing the fraud.

To establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice, a pre-trial investigation is underway under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 5 of Article 191 (appropriation, embezzlement of property or possession of it by abuse of official position) and Part 3 of Article 212 (evasion of paying taxes, fees, mandatory payments).

At the end of May 2022, at the request of the State Bureau of Investigation, the court transferred the arrested private corporate rights to 26 regional and city gas distribution system operators to the management of ARMA.

In May 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine transferred to the management of the enterprise of Naftogaz Group - Chornomornaftogaz - the previously seized assets of gas distribution system operators (regional gas companies), in particular, shares in Kharkivgaz and Dniprogaz. In February 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers agreed on the proposal of ARMA to transfer a number of seized assets to the management of Chornomornaftogaz, but did not publish their list.

On September 2, 2022, Naftogaz Ukrainy registered Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine LLC (Gas Networks), the main activity of which is the distribution of gas through local pipelines.