United Energy Systems of Ukraine
| Industry | Oil and gas |
|---|---|
| Founded | Ukrainian Petrol Company (1991) |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Kiev and Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine |
|
Area served
|
Ukraine |
|
Key people
|
Yulia Tymoshenko (November 1995 - January 1997) Oleksandr Tymoshenko (January 1997 - 2009) Hennady Tymoshenko (died May 2012) Alexander Gravets (vice president and co-owner) |
| Products | Natural gas |
| Revenue | $4 billion (1996) |
United Energy Systems of Ukraine, (UESU) (Ukrainian: Єдині енергетичні системи України, ЄЕСУ), was a natural gas trading company in Ukraine. In the years 1995 and 1996, it was the largest natural gas importer in Ukraine. The company was affected by a series of financial irregularities leading to criminal charges against the principals and closure of the company in 2009.
In 1989, Yulia Tymoshenko founded a family cooperative in Dnipropetrovsk. In 1991, Tymoshenko, her husband, Oleksandr, and Olexandr Gravetsas created the Ukrainian Petrol Company, a vendor of gasoline to farmers in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. In 1995, the company was reorganized into the United Energy Systems of Ukraine.
UESU bought gas from RAO Gazprom (Russia). However, UESU was largely held by a Turkish company, United Energy International Limited (UEIL) and the perhaps inflated payments of Ukraine gas customers was filtered through a number of international locations (allowing a distribution of profits (hundreds of millions of dollars) amongst the energy oligarchs involved, before Russia was paid.
In 1997, UESU formed a consortium that was responsible for supplies of natural gas to Ukraine from Russia. By 1996 and 1997, UESU was the biggest gas trading company in Ukraine and had branched out into other areas. In early 1997, it controlled several banks, had stakes in metallurgy and machine building companies and in two airports; participated in Bulgarian and Turkish pipelines; and controlled several local and national newspapers. It controlled 80% of Ukraine's natural gas supply and accounted for an estimated eights of Ukraine's GDP.
The decline of UESU related to shifts in power in Ukraine, leaving the principals exposed to criminal charges and the company exposed to heavy taxation.
Pavlo Lazarenko, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine in 1995, was a part owner of UESU. He allocated gasoline quotas to private companies, giving priority to Itera and UESU. Lazarenko resigned in 1997.
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