During the two months Semyon Mogilevich (pictured) is to spend in jail, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and Gazprom may reach agreement on new transit fees and gas supply to Ukraine.
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Media Link Mogilevich’s Arrest to Ukraine-Russia Gas Talks
Suspected crime boss Semyon Mogilev has pleaded not guilty to creating a tax haven for Arbat Prestige after he was formally charged. Mr. Mogilev said he had nothing to do with taxes or financial activities of beauty store chain Arbat Prestige.
RBK Daily said on Thursday Mr. Mogilevich’s arrest is linked with gas business. During the two months he is to spend in jail, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and Gazprom may reach agreement on new transit fees and gas supply to Ukraine.
Yulia Timoshenko said in Brussels earlier this week that the arrest of Semyon Mogilevich is directly connected with discussions of gas supply to Ukraine. Back in summer 2005, Ukraine’s former Security Service chief Alexander Turchinov said that Mr. Moligevich could be the ultimate beneficiary of gas trader Rosukrenergo. “Mogilevich is mentioned in documents of the founders of Rosukrenergo, but there is a lot of other indirect evidence that several people controlled by Mogilevich could take part in running the company,” Mr. Turchinov told The Financial Times.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a probe into activates and owners of RosUkrEnergo in April 2006. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department met representatives of RosUkrEnergo and Raiffeisen Investment in Washington. Owners of the Austrian half of the Switzerland-registered trader revealed their beneficiaries – Ukrainian businessmen Dmitry Firtash and Ivan Fursin.
Kyiv-based journalist Oleg Eltsov says Dmitry Firtash is closely connected to Semyon Mogilevich. “People who know Firtash say that he does not make a step without Mogilevich,” he said. “If something happens to Mogilevich (he’s got diabetes), his business may go to Firtash. But it’s impossible to prove.” Dmitry Firtash denies any links with Mr. Mogilevich.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine are going to discuss their gas relations on February 12. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says that the current system involving RosUkrEnergo should be preserved but Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko wants to get rid of the in-between company. She said earlier this week the EU supported her plan and she would raise this issue at another meeting in Moscow on February 21.
Semyon Mogilevich is to stay in detention center at least until early March.
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