Former Naftogaz deputy head Oleksandr Katsuba becomes beneficiary of three gas extraction companies

Former deputy head of the Naftogaz board of directors Oleksandr Katsuba officially became one of the beneficiaries of three companies holding special permits for the use of subsoil for gas extraction in early 2026. This is evidenced by data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Formations. The register indeed records the subject's surname with the letter "A" at the beginning, which is not an error.

Change of owners of gas assets

In January this year, Katsuba registered as one of the founders and beneficiaries of LLC "Gas-MDS". Shortly after, in February 2026, this entity obtained Special Permit No. 5893 for the use of the subsoil of the Lyubynets area in Lviv Oblast. The company purchased this permit at an auction for UAH 110 million. At the time of the bidding, the official owners of the company were Tetyana and Oleksandr Huzenko — Katsuba's ex-wife and father-in-law.

A similar scheme of re-registration of owners is observed in other entities as well. LLC "Zholet Invest Group" holds Special Permit No. 5275 for the use of the oil and gas-bearing Shcherbakiv-Shkurupiv area in Poltava Oblast. The validity period of this document is from 8 September 2021 to 8 September 2041. Previously, the beneficiaries of the company were also Katsuba's ex-wife and father-in-law. However, by January 2026, Oleksandr Katsuba and Oleksandr Huzenko had re-registered as beneficiaries of LLC "Zholet Invest Group".

Another entity, LLC "Nadra-GeoInvest", controls two special permits. The first, No. 6725, allows the use of the subsoil of the Skorobahatkivske field (southern block) in Poltava Oblast, which contains gas, oil and condensate. The permit is valid from 9 August 2023 to 9 August 2043. The second special permit, No. 4271, concerns the oil and gas-bearing subsoil of the Voronkiv-Seliukhiv group of structures in Poltava Oblast, with a validity period from 6 December 2012 to 6 December 2032. The beneficiaries of "Nadra-GeoInvest" were previously also Katsuba's relatives. According to previous media publications, in 2023 the "Nadra-GeoInvest" group entered the top three largest private gas extraction companies in Ukraine.

Family ties and past scandals

In total, nine special permits for the use of subsoil are associated with Oleksandr Katsuba. LLC "Alfa-Gas" is directly registered in his name, holding four special permits for hydrocarbon extraction: the Vakulivske and Kaverdinske fields, the Petrenkiv area in Poltava Oblast, and the Yevsugske field in occupied Luhansk Oblast. The identifiers of these permits are No. 5698, No. 6611, No. 5203 and No. 3580. In addition, Katsuba's father-in-law, Oleksandr Huzenko, owns an 80% stake in LLC "Sens-D". This company has held Special Permit No. 4922 for the use of the gas-bearing subsoil of the Bobrytsia area in Poltava Oblast since 2018.

The relationship between Katsuba and Tetyana Huzenko was formally terminated back in 2016. However, in the summer of 2023, journalist Mykhailo Tkach documented their joint presence in Monaco. The publication "Slidstvo.info" also reported that Tetyana Huzenko was treated (or received fictitious medical documents) in one clinic together with the Katsuba family in 2019. Tetyana Huzenko was a candidate from the "Shariy Party" in the parliamentary elections. Legislation requires candidates to have resided in Ukraine for five years or provide convincing evidence that this is impossible. As journalists found out, Huzenko used a medical certificate from the German clinic "Med Cologne", which mentioned her illness and long-term treatment abroad. Similar certificates from the same clinic were obtained by Nataliia Hordiienko — the mother of Oleksandr Katsuba, who also ran as a candidate from the "Shariy Party", and Serhiy Katsuba — Oleksandr's brother, who was on the lists of the "Opposition Platform — For Life".

Oleksandr Katsuba is also known as one of the participants in the affair involving the so-called "Boiko towers", which concerns oil drilling rigs purchased at inflated prices. In 2014, the publication "Ukrainska Pravda" published an investigation into palaces built by the Katsuba family near Kyiv. In 2017, Oleksandr Katsuba was tried for the theft of USD 500 million and attempted theft of another UAH 500 million. The General Prosecutor's Office allowed him to be released after paying a fine of USD 3.5 million, as he had signed a plea deal with the investigation. When the court was approving this deal, the author of this article, who at the time worked for "Nashi Hroshi", was expelled from the courtroom because the parties were trying to conduct the proceedings in secret.

Author: Alina Strizhak, Centre for Countering Corruption