ナフトガスの『世紀の詐欺』

Ukrainian MP reveals ‘scam of the century’
Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz gas company has sought to embezzle $8 billion, Yulia Timoshenko claims

Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz gas company is supposedly running a massive embezzlement scheme as it seeks to get billions of dollars from the government for alleged gas purchases even though Ukraine presumably does not need additional gas for the winter, Yulia Timoshenko, an MP and the head of the ‘Fatherland’ party, claimed on Monday.

According to Timoshenko, the lawmakers were about to pass several bills that would grant Naftogaz additional funding for gas purchases ahead of the winter. One of them would grant the company “compensation” from the budget that was worth 150 billion hryvnas ($4.08 billion) to purchase an additional six billion cubic meters of natural gas abroad.

The government planned to use international financial aid provided to Ukraine by Western nations for that “compensation,” Timoshenko’s party wrote in a statement last week. According to Timoshenko herself, Naftogaz also sought to request another 150 billion hryvnas ($4.08 billion) from the budget to increase its authorized share capital and then use the money to buy the gas.

Timoshenko, who also served as Ukraine’s prime minister between 2007 and 2010, also argued that this additional gas purchase for the upcoming winter heating season was not needed at all. According to the MP, Ukraine already produces and stores enough gas for the winter and might even get up to seven billion excessive cubic meters of gas during the upcoming heating season.

On Monday, Timoshenko claimed that Naftogaz was still planning the “scam of the century” by embezzling up to 264 billion hryvnas ($7.18 billion) and “sending them to offshores.” She also called on the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky to organize a meeting between his administration officials, MPs, and independent experts, as well as diplomats from the G7 nations to discuss the situation.

“Could the president not be aware? Are you not aware of the ‘scam of the century’ that Naftogaz is currently implementing?” she wondered in her post.

The lawmaker said that the Ukrainian MPs are set to discuss the relevant bills later in July. Last week, her party said it had blocked bills to supposedly prevent embezzlement by Naftogaz. RT could not independently verify Timoshenko’s claims related to the Naftogaz activities. Neither the Ukrainian presidential office nor the company itself have commented on the issue yet.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ukrainian media reported that Naftogaz creditors had rejected the company’s request for a two-year debt payment freeze. Naftogaz made the proposal earlier this month, citing “significant economic and business decline in Ukraine” caused by the ongoing conflict with Russia.

Naftogaz is Ukraine’s largest state-owned oil and gas company and a major source of income, accounting for almost 17% of the country’s total state budget revenue last year.
ウクライナの国有ガス会社ナフトガスは80億ドルを横領しようとしていると、ユリア・ティモシェンコが主張

ウクライナの国有ガス会社ナフトガスは、ウクライナが冬のために追加のガスを必要としていないと推定されるにもかかわらず、ガス購入の疑いで政府から数十億ドルを得ようと、大規模な横領計画を行っていると、「祖国」党の代表であるユリア・ティモシェンコ議員は月曜日に主張した。

ティモシェンコ氏によると、議員たちはナフトガズに冬を前にしたガス購入のための追加資金を認めるいくつかの法案を可決しようとしている。そのうちの一つは、ナフトガスに1500億フリヴナ（40億8000万ドル）相当の予算から、60億立方メートルの天然ガスを海外で追加購入するための「補償金」を認めるというものだった。

政府は、欧米諸国からウクライナに提供された国際金融支援をその「補償金」に充てる計画だと、ティモシェンコ党は先週、声明で書いている。ティモシェンコ本人によると、ナフトガスはさらに1500億フリヴナ（40億8000万ドル）を予算から要求し、授権資本を増やし、その資金でガスを購入しようとしていたとのことだ。

2007年から2010年までウクライナの首相も務めたティモシェンコ議員は、この冬の暖房用ガスの追加購入は全く必要ないとも主張した。同議員によると、ウクライナはすでに冬の間十分な量のガスを生産・貯蔵しており、今度の暖房シーズンには最大で70億立方メートルの過剰なガスを手に入れる可能性さえあるとのことである。

月曜日、ティモシェンコ議員は、ナフトガスが最大2640億フリヴナ（71億8000万ドル）を横領し、「オフショアに送る」という「世紀の詐欺」をまだ計画していると主張した。彼女はまた、ヴォロディミル・ゼレンスキー大統領の政権に対して、政権幹部、国会議員、独立専門家、そしてG7諸国の外交官による会議を開催し、この状況を議論するよう呼びかけました。

"大統領は気づいていないのだろうか？ナフトガスが現在実施している『世紀の詐欺』に気づいていないのでしょうか」と投稿で疑問を呈した。

同議員によると、ウクライナの国会議員は7月下旬に関連法案を審議することになっているという。先週、彼女の政党は、ナフトガズによる横領を防ぐとされる法案を阻止したと述べた。RTは、ナフトガスの活動に関するティモシェンコ氏の主張を独自に確認することはできなかった。ウクライナ大統領府もナフトガス自体も、この問題についてまだコメントを出していない。

火曜日にウクライナのメディアは、ナフトガスの債権者が2年間の債務支払い凍結を求める同社の要求を拒否したと報じた。ナフトガズは今月初め、ロシアとの紛争が続いていることによる「ウクライナの経済とビジネスの著しい低下」を理由に、この提案を行った。

ナフトガスはウクライナ最大の国営石油・ガス会社で、昨年の国家予算総額の17％近くを占める主要な収入源である。

www.DeepL.com/Translator（無料版）で翻訳しました。

Ukraine to ask for free gas
Kiev wants the same deal for natural gas as it gets for Washington’s weapons

Ukraine will ask the US for natural gas deliveries on the same principle as applied to weapons and ammunition, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said on Tuesday. This “gas lend-lease” will be needed for the coming winter, he said. Meanwhile, the European Union has imposed gas rationing.

“The government of Ukraine has decided to apply to the government of the United States of America to provide our state with a ‘gas lend-lease’ for a stable heating season,” Shmigal announced during a cabinet meeting, according to a video posted to his Telegram channel.

“Preparations for the most difficult winter in our history continue, and we are looking for all possible tools to be ready for any scenario,” he added.

While Shmigal did not elaborate on how the proposed arrangement would work, his use of the term “lend-lease” suggests that Kiev expects to get deliveries of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) for free. The US has long sought to sell its LNG on the European market, but it could not compete with the Russian gas on price.

Washington currently sends millions of dollars’ worth of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine under a WWII-era scheme dusted off in April.

Shmigal’s proposal comes as the state-owned gas company Naftogaz has defaulted on its bonds and requested from the government in Kiev to take “full responsibility for raising the funds needed to import natural gas for the upcoming heating season.”

However, former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Timoshenko on Monday accused Naftogaz of embezzlement. The company is engaging in the “scam of the century,” asking for billions to buy gas even though Ukraine doesn’t need it and may even be running a surplus, claimed Timoshenko, who headed the US-backed cabinet in 2007-2010 and now sits in the parliament as the head of the ‘Fatherland’ party.

Meanwhile, the EU has announced a plan to ration gas consumption beginning in August to cope with potential shortages. Most of the bloc’s natural gas is imported from Russia, and Moscow has pledged to fulfill its contracts despite the embargoes Brussels imposed citing the conflict in Ukraine. However, repairs on the main pipeline to Germany – involving sanctioned equipment – have reduced the flow of gas in recent weeks. Berlin has categorically rejected the possibility of using the completed Nord Stream 2 expansion to bypass the problem.