Large-scale scheme to tamper with gas meters uncovered - Koretskyi

A large-scale scheme involving tampering with gas meters, which operated across virtually the entire country, has been uncovered.

Serhii Koretskyi, the chairman of the board of the Naftogaz of Ukraine, reported this on his Facebook page, according to the Ukrainian News agency.

"The scheme is inherently reprehensible: on the one hand, there are the criminals who offered these meters; on the other, there are business owners and residential consumers who knowingly purchased and installed these illegal devices, fully aware of the consequences of their actions,” Koretskyi wrote.

It is noted that two individuals involved in the case have been charged, and one has been detained.

The Naftogaz Group will seek full compensation for the damages incurred, and the Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine specialists have been enlisted to dismantle the illegal devices.

According to Koretskyi, this is not the last such incident, which is why comprehensive efforts to restore order and uncover fraud continue.

Annual losses from technical losses and gas theft amount to billions of hryvnias.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in Chernivtsi, criminals illegally laid a gas pipeline to an apartment building, connected themselves to the gas distribution system without authorization, and were effectively stealing gas to power a local boiler room.

In late January, with the assistance of security teams from the Naftogaz Group, the National Police of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, shut down the activities of the organized criminal group “Ternova.”