RosUkrEnergo
Encyclopedia
RosUkrEnergo is a Swiss-registered venture company that transports natural gas
from Turkmenistan
to East European countries. 50% of the company is owned by Gazprom
, through its daughter Swiss-registered Rosgas Holding A.G., and another 50% by Swiss-registered private company Centragas Holding A.G., acting on behalf of a consortium of GDF Group owned by Dmytro Firtash
and Ivan Fursin.
Before 2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute
, it was the sole importer of natural gas from Gazprom
reselling it to Naftogaz Ukrainy.
and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
to replace Eural Trans Gas. Until 2006 the company acted as a middleman between Turkmenistan and Ukraine. The company also sells Turkmenistan gas to Poland
. Due to an agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz, from 2006 till January 2009 the company supplied all of Ukraine's natural gas imports from Russia
and other Central Asian countries, in addition to Turkmenistan. On October 24, 2008 Gazprom
and Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz signed a long-term cooperation deal in which was stated that Ukraine will receive Russian natural gas directly from Gazprom and Naftogaz will be the sole importer of Russian natural gas.
After weeks of disputes the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller and the head of Naftohaz Ukrainy
Oleh Dubyna signed the 10-year agreement on natural gas supplies to Ukraine for the period of 2009-2019 on 19 January 2009. It was agreed that RosUkrEnergo will no longer supply all of Ukraine's natural gas imports from Russia and other Central Asian countries. A claim of a $600 million debt of Naftohaz to RosUkrEnergo was also dropped.
On March 4, 2009 Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Alfa special police unit searched the headquarters of Naftohaz Ukrainy in a case against officials of Naftohaz Ukrainy on embezzlement of 6.3 billion cubic meters of transit natural gas
, according to Valerii Khoroshkovskyi, first deputy chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine, the RosUkrEnergo Company and a number of Verkhovna Rada’s deputies had filed in a claim against Naftohaz Ukrainy. On March 17, 2009 a criminal case was filed against officials of the Naftohaz Ukrainy national joint-stock company on suspicion of stealing 6.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas intended for transit through Ukraine by the SBU.
On March 30, 2010 a international arbitration
court in Stockholm
ordered Naftohas Ukrainy to pay RosUkrEnergo around $200 million as a penalty for various breaches of supply, transit and storage contracts. On June 8, 2010 the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal ordered Naftohaz to return 11 bcm of natural gas to RosUkrEnergo and that RosUkrEnergo would receive from Naftohaz a further 1.1 bcm of natural gas in lieu of RosUkrEnergo's entitlement to penalties for breach of contract. On April 26, 2011 former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
suit Dmytro Firtash
and RosUkrEnergo in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan
accusing them of "defrauding Ukraine's citizenry by manipulating an arbitration court ruling, "undermining the rule of law in Ukraine" in connection with the 2010 international arbitration court ruling in Stockholm.
, Hungary on December 6, 2002. It was suspected of acting as a Gazprom
front. Andras Knopp, a former Hungarian communist cultural functionary with no knowledge of the gas business, became director of the company. The registered owner was Dmytro Firtash, an obscure Ukrainian national who reportedly had little if any known assets. Yet the person received almost $300 million in credits from Russian banks.
ETG maintained an account at a Budapest branch of Vienna's Raiffeisen Bank and had a number of accounts in Vienna's Meinl Bank.
. The Ukrainian investigation into RosUkrEnergo begun during Tymoshenko's previous term as Prime Minister was closed after she lost her position as Prime Minister in September 2005. According to a document uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak
US-diplomats shared Tymoshenko's suspicions.
In April 2006, London-based corruption watchdog Global Witness
published a report focusing on RosUkrEnergo and other transit companies that have acted as intermediaries between Turkmenistan, Russia and Ukraine. The report highlighted the many links in personnel between RosUkrEnergo and the previous intermediary Eural Trans Gas. According to the report, Israeli lawyer Zeev Gordon had registered Eural Trans Gas on behalf of Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash. Also in late April 2006, Izvestia
reported that the primary shareholder of RosUkrEnergo is Dmytro Firtash. The report stated that he owned 90% of CentraGas Holding, equaling 45% of RosUkrEnergo. The report stated that a further owner is another Ukrainian businessman Ivan Fursin, the primary shareholder of the Odessa Film Studio
and an owner of Misto-bank. His stake was revealed to be 10% of CentraGas and therefore a 5% owner of RosUkrEnergo.
The company's 2006 profit is listed at over $785 million.
RosUkrEnergo profit for January–September 2007 is reported at $213 million.
The company makes its profit on re-exporting gas to Europe. The size of the profit is defined by Gazprom through the export allowances of about 9 billion cubic meters a year. RosUkrEnergo supplies gas to the Hungarian gas distributor Emfesz
, for example, which is also controlled by Firtash via his holding company Group DF.
Effectively, by engaging in this supply scheme Gazprom transfers profits from its shareholders to the shareholders of RosUkrEnergo.
Board of Directors:
Executive Directors:
Coordination Committee:
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
from Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
to East European countries. 50% of the company is owned by Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
, through its daughter Swiss-registered Rosgas Holding A.G., and another 50% by Swiss-registered private company Centragas Holding A.G., acting on behalf of a consortium of GDF Group owned by Dmytro Firtash
Dmytro Firtash
Dmytro Firtash is a Ukrainian businessman and billionaire .Firtash first steps in business where in in the food industry in the early 1990s before moving into gas trading....
and Ivan Fursin.
Before 2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute
2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute
The Russia–Ukraine gas dispute of 2009 was a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine that occurred when Russian natural gas company Gazprom refused to conclude a supply contract for 2009 unless Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz paid its accumulating debts for previous gas supplies...
, it was the sole importer of natural gas from Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
reselling it to Naftogaz Ukrainy.
History
The company was created in July 2004 in a deal by former Ukrainian President Leonid KuchmaLeonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...
and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
to replace Eural Trans Gas. Until 2006 the company acted as a middleman between Turkmenistan and Ukraine. The company also sells Turkmenistan gas to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Due to an agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz, from 2006 till January 2009 the company supplied all of Ukraine's natural gas imports from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and other Central Asian countries, in addition to Turkmenistan. On October 24, 2008 Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
and Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz signed a long-term cooperation deal in which was stated that Ukraine will receive Russian natural gas directly from Gazprom and Naftogaz will be the sole importer of Russian natural gas.
After weeks of disputes the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller and the head of Naftohaz Ukrainy
Naftohaz Ukrainy
Naftogaz is the national oil and gas company of Ukraine. It is the state-owned company under the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine. The company is concerned with extraction, transportation, and refinement of natural gas and crude oil...
Oleh Dubyna signed the 10-year agreement on natural gas supplies to Ukraine for the period of 2009-2019 on 19 January 2009. It was agreed that RosUkrEnergo will no longer supply all of Ukraine's natural gas imports from Russia and other Central Asian countries. A claim of a $600 million debt of Naftohaz to RosUkrEnergo was also dropped.
On March 4, 2009 Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Alfa special police unit searched the headquarters of Naftohaz Ukrainy in a case against officials of Naftohaz Ukrainy on embezzlement of 6.3 billion cubic meters of transit natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, according to Valerii Khoroshkovskyi, first deputy chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine, the RosUkrEnergo Company and a number of Verkhovna Rada’s deputies had filed in a claim against Naftohaz Ukrainy. On March 17, 2009 a criminal case was filed against officials of the Naftohaz Ukrainy national joint-stock company on suspicion of stealing 6.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas intended for transit through Ukraine by the SBU.
On March 30, 2010 a international arbitration
International arbitration
International arbitration is a leading method for resolving disputes arising from international commercial agreements and other international relationships...
court in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
ordered Naftohas Ukrainy to pay RosUkrEnergo around $200 million as a penalty for various breaches of supply, transit and storage contracts. On June 8, 2010 the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal ordered Naftohaz to return 11 bcm of natural gas to RosUkrEnergo and that RosUkrEnergo would receive from Naftohaz a further 1.1 bcm of natural gas in lieu of RosUkrEnergo's entitlement to penalties for breach of contract. On April 26, 2011 former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
suit Dmytro Firtash
Dmytro Firtash
Dmytro Firtash is a Ukrainian businessman and billionaire .Firtash first steps in business where in in the food industry in the early 1990s before moving into gas trading....
and RosUkrEnergo in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
accusing them of "defrauding Ukraine's citizenry by manipulating an arbitration court ruling, "undermining the rule of law in Ukraine" in connection with the 2010 international arbitration court ruling in Stockholm.
Eural Trans Gas
Eural Trans Gas (ETG) was an energy company registered in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary on December 6, 2002. It was suspected of acting as a Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
front. Andras Knopp, a former Hungarian communist cultural functionary with no knowledge of the gas business, became director of the company. The registered owner was Dmytro Firtash, an obscure Ukrainian national who reportedly had little if any known assets. Yet the person received almost $300 million in credits from Russian banks.
ETG maintained an account at a Budapest branch of Vienna's Raiffeisen Bank and had a number of accounts in Vienna's Meinl Bank.
Owners and allegations of criminal connections
Former Ukrainian Prime-Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stated in November 2006, the company is controlled by notorious Ukrainian-born Russian criminal boss Semyon Mogilevich, while in 2009 Vladimir Putin was quoted as claiming that RosUkrEnergo is owned by a business ally of Viktor YushchenkoViktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
. The Ukrainian investigation into RosUkrEnergo begun during Tymoshenko's previous term as Prime Minister was closed after she lost her position as Prime Minister in September 2005. According to a document uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began in February 2010 when WikiLeaks—a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers—began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates,...
US-diplomats shared Tymoshenko's suspicions.
In April 2006, London-based corruption watchdog Global Witness
Global Witness
Global Witness is an international NGO established in 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washington, D.C.. Global Witness states that it does not have...
published a report focusing on RosUkrEnergo and other transit companies that have acted as intermediaries between Turkmenistan, Russia and Ukraine. The report highlighted the many links in personnel between RosUkrEnergo and the previous intermediary Eural Trans Gas. According to the report, Israeli lawyer Zeev Gordon had registered Eural Trans Gas on behalf of Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash. Also in late April 2006, Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
reported that the primary shareholder of RosUkrEnergo is Dmytro Firtash. The report stated that he owned 90% of CentraGas Holding, equaling 45% of RosUkrEnergo. The report stated that a further owner is another Ukrainian businessman Ivan Fursin, the primary shareholder of the Odessa Film Studio
Odessa Film Studio
Odessa Film Studio is a Ukrainian film studio in Odessa. It is partially owned by a government and supervised by the Department of State property fund of Ukraine together with the Ministry of Culture. Together with Dovzhenko Film Studios they are the only state-owned and major film producers in...
and an owner of Misto-bank. His stake was revealed to be 10% of CentraGas and therefore a 5% owner of RosUkrEnergo.
Profits
RosUkrEnergo reported a 2005 profit of $755 million and paid $735 million in dividends.The company's 2006 profit is listed at over $785 million.
RosUkrEnergo profit for January–September 2007 is reported at $213 million.
The company makes its profit on re-exporting gas to Europe. The size of the profit is defined by Gazprom through the export allowances of about 9 billion cubic meters a year. RosUkrEnergo supplies gas to the Hungarian gas distributor Emfesz
Emfesz
Emfesz is a natural gas distributor in Hungary with an annual quantity of 2.3 billion m3 from the national 14 - 15 billion m3 thus resulting a 20% market share...
, for example, which is also controlled by Firtash via his holding company Group DF.
Effectively, by engaging in this supply scheme Gazprom transfers profits from its shareholders to the shareholders of RosUkrEnergo.
Management
(As of October 2007,)Board of Directors:
- Lars Haussmann (President of the Board of Directors)
- Hans Baumgartner
Executive Directors:
- Konstantin ChuychenkoKonstantin ChuychenkoKonstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko , is a Russian lawyer and businessman.-Career:Born in Leningrad, Soviet Union), Chuychenko graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987 as a fellow student of Dmitry Medvedev....
- Dmitry Glebko
Coordination Committee:
- Representing GazpromGazpromOpen Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
- Valery GolubevValery GolubevValery Aleksandrovich Golubev , former Soviet Union) is a Russian politician and businessman. He is a former Head of the Vasileostrovsky Administrative District of St. Petersburg, former member of the Federation Council of Russia, currently a Deputy CEO Gazprom and the Head of its Department for...
- Alexander MedvedevAlexander MedvedevAlexander Ivanovich Medvedev is the current Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Russian energy company Gazprom, president of the Kontinental Hockey League, and the Director-General of Gazprom's export arm Gazprom Export...
- Stanislav Tsygankov
- Sergey Khomyakov
- Valery Golubev
- Representing Centragas
- Dmytro FirtashDmytro FirtashDmytro Firtash is a Ukrainian businessman and billionaire .Firtash first steps in business where in in the food industry in the early 1990s before moving into gas trading....
- David Brown - former director of British GasBritish Gas plcBritish Gas plc was formerly the monopoly gas supplier and is a private sector in the United Kingdom.- History :In the early 1900s the gas market in the United Kingdom was mainly run by county councils and small private firms...
- Robert Shetler-Jones
- Hanno Schatzmann
- Dmytro Firtash