NABU, SAPO send second episode of Rotterdam+ case to court
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) sent to court the second episode of the so-called "Rotterdam+" case on charges of 14 people involved in the introduction and operation of the so-called "Rotterdam+" formula.
"This is the second episode of a large-scale investigation by anti-corruption authorities, exposed in October 2022. The first, on the suspicion of six people, was sent to court regarding the illegal overpayment of more than UAH 19 billion during 2016-2017 in March 2023," NABU said on its website on Tuesday.
Among those accused in the second episode are two former chairmen of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NEURC), six former members of NEURC, two current members, one current and former employee of the commission, as well as two current officials of a group of private heat generating companies.
The investigation against another former employee of NEURC was separated into another criminal proceeding.
"Six of these individuals, who, as investigators established, consciously took part in the crime, received new suspicions under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Actions of members of the NEURC, who, without understanding, backed the approval of the so-called "Rotterdam+" formula" are qualified under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," NABU reported.
As NABU said with reference to the results of the investigation, the so-called "Rotterdam+" formula included expenses that in fact did not exist, namely for the transportation of coal from a national producer to thermal power plants from the port in Rotterdam. As a result, this led to an increase in electricity tariffs for industrial consumers.
"The investigation has evidence that representatives of a group of private heat generating companies, who ultimately received excess profits, persuaded NEURC to accept such a formula for calculating them," NABU said.