Case description
The HACC approved a plea agreement concluded with Nataliia Koltasheva, director of the private company UZElektro LLC.
According to the investigation, SSU official Artem Shylo, together with officials of Ukrzaliznytsia and involved representatives of private entities, organized a scheme to procure power transformers at inflated prices.
According to the prosecution, Artem Shylo created an organized group to misappropriate funds of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC. The group had a vertical structure: on the one hand, a “back office” of commercial specialists who negotiated with suppliers and controlled financial flows; on the other, officials of the state-owned company who ensured access to procurement procedures and influenced tender outcomes.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, another figure in the case — a transformer supplier — left for Bulgaria together with Koltasheva. In Sofia, he founded a Bulgarian company, European Energy Solutions EOOD, which he managed remotely while granting Koltasheva extensive authority. It was through her that he implemented the scheme of artificially inflating transformer prices for subsequent resale to Ukraine.
Koltasheva took deliberate steps to create the appearance that direct deliveries from manufacturers were impossible, including arranging correspondence that redirected Ukrainian companies to the Bulgarian “dealer.” This artificially constructed resale chain enabled the organized group to increase its profit margin.
After contacting Ukrzaliznytsia representatives and receiving inquiries about possible discounts, Koltasheva prepared and sent letters refusing to reduce prices, justifying this with a fabricated increase in production costs. She later sent new commercial offers with even higher prices, despite competitors keeping their prices unchanged, which made UZElektro’s offer tens of millions of hryvnias more expensive.
After establishing the “required” cost base, Koltasheva concluded additional agreements between the Ukrainian and Bulgarian companies at inflated prices, ensuring that the accumulated difference was deposited into the accounts of the Bulgarian company. This difference — nearly UAH 100 million excluding VAT — constituted the misappropriated amount.
Koltasheva directly ensured the implementation of the criminal plan: she signed commercial offers at inflated prices, concluded the supply agreement with Ukrzaliznytsia, and in 2023 issued invoices that served as the basis for transferring funds. In doing so, she enabled the group to misappropriate state-owned funds.
Koltasheva’s actions were classified as aiding and abetting under Article 191(5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. She pleaded guilty. The HACC approved the plea agreement and sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment, with a three-year ban on holding positions in private legal entities involving organizational, administrative, or economic functions. She was released from serving the main sentence on probation for a period of two years and ten months.
Koltasheva also agreed to compensate UAH 1 million in damages. In addition, the court ordered the special confiscation of UAH 54.6 million held in the accounts of UZElektro LLC.
