Human rights defender Aronets calls on SSU to check management of UkrGasVydobuvannya for ties with russia
For a year and a half since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a russian citizen worked as a personal assistant to the head of the largest gas-producing company, UkrGasVydobuvannya. In response to a journalist's inquiry, the current management stated that it did not see any violations in the fact that a citizen of the aggressor country had access to strategically important documents of the state energy company.
The author of the blog notes that the company is currently managed by a native of Belarus and a "fan of russian culture Oleh Tolmachev," whose personal assistant until the summer of 2023 was russian citizen Dariya Taranova. Oleksandr Aronets published a screenshot of Taranova's passport.
"No one knows for what reasons the acting director of UkrGasVydobuvannya Tolmachev made her his assistant. Taranova was born in the city of Kursk, you know which country. She worked as Tolmachev's personal assistant for one and a half years of the war (from February 24, 2022, to the summer of 2023), and still remains a citizen of the russian federation," said the human rights defender.
The leadership of UkrGasVydobuvannya continues to protect Taranova. In response to an official request from journalists, the company reported that Daria had been working legally since 2019 until her dismissal.
"In 2025, Taranova's passport will expire; of course, she will go to the nearest russian embassy and will definitely be interrogated by the FSB as a former employee of the state UkrGasVydobuvannya and will tell everything that she did not have time to do. After all, I emphasize, this is a person who worked in the "first reception room" of UkrGasVydobuvannya and had access to all production, commercial, personnel, and financial documentation," the author of the blog continues.
According to him, Oleh Tolmachev himself has relatives, in particular his mother, living in the russian federation, and after the annexation of Crimea, judging by his social networks, Tolmachev has been to russia many times. Accordingly, he has obvious zones of vulnerability (mother and close person) through which the russian special services can effectively influence him.
Aronets emphasized that other members of the leadership of the UkrGasVydobuvannya should also be checked by law enforcement officers.
"Another head of the UkrGasVydobuvannya is Akshyn Mehdiyev, a citizen of Azerbaijan, involved in criminal proceedings regarding the embezzlement of funds for the construction of the Shebelinka Exploratory Well 888 and a former employee of Schlumberger Services Ukraine LLC, which is recognized as a sponsor of the war due to its work in the russian federation. Mehdiyev himself previously worked in the russian federation. And now it has a registered operating company Wellpath Limited, whose Ukrainian branch is registered to - yes, to a citizen of the russian federation. Another top manager is Mykhailo Bratakh. During the war, he posted photos and videos of secret energy facilities on social networks, boasting that, unlike ordinary Ukrainians, he could go to the United States "to take a little rest from the war," notes the volunteer.
In what is happening with UkrGasVydobuvannya, the author of the blog sees threats to Ukraine's energy security in particular and national security in general.
"The state-owned enterprise is managed by people who are directly or indirectly connected with the russian federation; there is a possibility that these people cooperate with enemy special services. The losses suffered by the gas industry, in my opinion, maybe the result of deliberate subversive work by the current management of the state-owned company. Therefore, I am appealing to the Security Service of Ukraine with a statement about a crime. I call on the security service to check whether the work of the management of UkrGasVydobuvannya complies with the principles of national security. I ask you to take urgent measures to assess and respond appropriately to the facts presented," concludes Oleksandr Aronets.