Update: Lukoil denies the allegations of money laundering and tax evasion and intends to appeal against the provision Prosecutor of the Ploiesti Court of Appeal according to the legal procedures, notes a press release of the company sent to the energynomics.ro editorial.
The prosecutors of the Ploiesti Court of Appeal (Ploiesti PCA) have seized the assets belonging to Lukoil Europe Holdings BV Netherlands up to the amount of two billion euros, assets that include bank accounts, premiums issuing and shares, informs Mediafax. However, the prosecutors of the Ploiesti authority ordered also the judicial control for five employees of Petrotel-Lukoil.
“Following the investigations extension at Lukoil Europe Holdings Bvatrium Netherlands and against S.C. Petrotel-Lukoil S.A. Ploiesti the precautionary measures were also extended. These were imposed on goods belonging to Lukoil Europe Holdings Bvatrium Netherlands, up to the amount of 2,007,103,675,74 euros, respectively on bank accounts held by this legal entity at commercial banks located in U.K. and the Netherlands, upon the premiums issued amounting to 1,880,931.388 lei and on a number of 176,840,629 shares held by it in S.C. Petrotel-Lukoil S.A. Ploiesti “shows the PCA Ploiesti report, quoted by Mediafax.
The Ploiesti PCA prosecutors bring new charges of money laundering in the case, as well as the decapitalisation the Petrotel-Lukoil company. The authorities say that they base their position on the reports of the company’s administrators from 2012 and 2013. The damage calculated to date in this case is over 1,18 billion euros and over 1,52 billion dollars for the offense of use in bad faith of the company’s credit amounting to over 1,52 billion dollars and nearly 553 million euros for the offense of money laundering, writes Mediafax.
According to the Ploiesti prosecutors, Petrotel- Lukoil “reimbursed under some contracts, with title loan, to the largest shareholder LUKOIL Europe Holdings BV Netherlands the amount of 1.511.904.038,94 euros 552,977,284.35 US dollars as credit refund justification” and received as investments, from the same company, which is the major shareholder of the refinery in Ploiesti, over 32,47 million euros and over 304 million dollars, “although according to the audit, balances and the reports to ANAF the company’s assets ammount in 48,522,486 euros equivalent in national currency, the 257,995,952 euros difference, not being reflected in the assets of the company “.
The prosecutors also claim that the major shareholder of Lukoil Europe BV Netherlands veered into the account of Petrotel-Lukoil, according to the cornering accounts, an amount of over 480 million euros, the equivalent in national currency, by way of capital increase, but according to the situation reported to the Trade Register based on the company’s accounting and financial documents, the social capital is about 106 million euros equivalent in national currency, the difference not being reflected in the capital contribution.
“Although the amount was received with that title (capital increase), according to the account turnovers, it was divided and reimbursed as credit refund, during the same day and went into the bank accounts”, showed the investigators.
On October 2, 2014, the prosecutors made several searches at the premises of several companies belonging to Lukoil, including the refinery in Ploiesti, the estimated damage being 1.039 billion lei (230 million euros), of which 112 million euros of tax evasion and rest of money laundering. On October 7th, the work was resumed.