Security Council to hear NABU on Rotterdam Plus case

The National Security and Defense Council is going to
hear from the National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) on the case of Rotterdam
Plus, the Council’s secretary Oleksiy Danilov told a press briefing on Nov. 10.
The hearing will happen this week, Danilov stated.

The Rotterdam Plus approach, which was utilized over
May 2016 – June 2019, stipulated that the forecasted power price for coal-fired
power plants should be calculated taking into account the full cost of coal as
if it had been imported from the ports of Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp, while in
fact most of the coal was supplied from local mines over this period. NABU
alleges that the initiators of the Rotterdam Plus approach have conspired to
bring massive damages for power consumers, which it estimates at UAH 39 bln.
Among the conspiracy suspects, are officials of power sector regulator and
employees of DTEK Group (which includes DTEK Energy, DTEKUA) owned by Rinat
Akhmetov.

NABU’s attempts to bring the case to courts is being
blocked by the anti-corruption prosecutors who closed the Rotterdam Plus case
four times. NABU questioned the last attempt to close the case
in the High Anticorruption Court, but the investigating judge of the court did
not support NABU’s position. The next hearing in the High Anticorruption Court
is scheduled for Nov. 15, according to Interfax-Ukraine. If the court decides
to close the case, NABU won’t be able to appeal, anti-corruption prosecutor
Denys Demkiv commented to Interfax on Nov. 9.

Alexander Paraschiy: The
Rotterdam Plus approach is considered as one of the soundest allegations of
corruption of the times of the previous president Petro Poroshenko. Zelensky,
who is seeking any chance to pinprick Poroshenko, should be interested in the
continuity of the Rotterdam Plus case. Zelensky’s attention to this case is
also important from a PR perspective  – by advocating the need for further
investigation, he could show that he is distant from Akhmetov. This is why
Zelensky should demonstrate his attempt to make the case go on, at least
publicly, via the National Security and Defense Council. At the same time, we
believe the High Anticorruption Court is independent enough to make its own
decision on the case, whatever it will be.

As before, we believe that NABU has a low chance of
succeeding in the Rotterdam Plus case. But, most likely, this time the case
won’t be closed.