AGRO GAS TRADING ANNOUNCES THE SPREAD OF MISINFORMATION TO DISRUPT THE PRIVATIZATION OF OPP

Agro Gas Trading (AGT), a company specializing in the supply of natural gas for industrial and agricultural needs, has detected a large-scale wave of misinformation spreading across a number of Ukrainian online platforms. It has all the hallmarks of a targeted campaign to discredit AGT ahead of the privatization auction of Odesa Port Plant JSC.

Negative publications with false accusations began to appear immediately after Agro Gas Trading's official announcement of its intention to participate in the open auction for the privatization of OPP. These materials spread fabricated claims about the company's “central role in corruption schemes,” “obtaining excessive profits,” and “causing damage to the state” during the company's cooperation with the Port Plant in 2019-2021. It is also claimed that the company is trying to “regain monopoly control” over the plant.

These insinuations have no factual or legal basis and are nothing more than manipulation aimed at discrediting the company, disrupting the privatization process, and maintaining control of the strategic asset by interested parties.

"We view this attack as an attempt to pressure an investor who advocates transparency and fair play. We will not allow lies and manipulation to once again become a tool in the fight for state assets," said Vladimir Kolot, co-owner of Agro Gas Trading.

During 2019-2021, Agro Gas Trading's cooperation with OPP was conducted exclusively in a lawful manner based on the tolling model (gas supplies and payment for processing services), which is a common global practice in the field of natural gas processing. This cooperation model ensured the effective utilization of the plant's capacity and did not involve any “control” over the enterprise, as claimed in the manipulative statements.

During the period of cooperation, AGT supplied OPZ with over 1.42 billion m³ of natural gas. The plant's facilities produced approximately 1.735 million tons of urea and 187,000 tons of ammonia; 90% of the products were sold for export. As a result, OPZ resumed normal operations after a year and a half of downtime, preserved more than 3,000 jobs, increased wages by 20%, repaid its debts to the Naftogaz group, and ensured stable foreign currency inflows to the state.

The company did not receive any state subsidies, did not attract budget funds, but, on the contrary, invested its own resources in restoring the enterprise's operations. Instead, unscrupulous journalists and so-called opinion leaders continue to spread the false thesis that this cooperation was a “scheme to embezzle state funds.”

The authors of manipulative publications are also actively trying to personalize their unfounded accusations and associate them with the co-owners of Agro Gas Trading. In particular, they systematically use the label “figurehead/suspect” in relation to them, presenting this as proven guilt; they speculate on legal aspects that are not related to the company's economic activities; they deliberately create the impression that AGT representatives are members of a criminal group. In reality, no legal proceedings involving the company's co-owners have been or are being conducted, no direct charges have been brought, and therefore no decisions or verdicts have been made.

However, the most damage is caused by statements about the alleged “fictitious nature” of Agro Gas Trading's participation in the new round of privatization of Odesa Port Plant. The authors of these statements, referring to themselves, claim that the company's alleged “scandalous background” could be used to create unfair auction conditions in favor of third parties.

In the context of martial law and the energy crisis, undermining investor confidence is extremely dangerous for the country's economy. The dissemination of false information about Agro Gas Trading's activities creates reputational and financial risks not only for the company, but also for its partners, banking institutions, investment funds, and joint participants in the privatization process. Such actions could negatively affect Ukraine's investment climate, undermine the trust of international partners, and reduce interest in participating in strategic state projects.

Agro Gas Trading, on the contrary, aims to restore the plant's potential, create new jobs, increase tax revenues to the budget, and make this asset an example of effective post-war reconstruction. The company considers the information attack an attempt to preserve the opaque status quo in the energy and fertilizer market.

AGT calls on online media outlets, news aggregators, and social media owners to adhere to the principles of accuracy, fact-checking, and respect for reputation. The dissemination of false information, especially in the field of privatization of strategic enterprises, violates Article 277 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the Law “On Media,” the European Convention on Human Rights, the Munich Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists, and the European Union's Digital Services Act.

“We urge the media not to become a tool for smear campaigns. Real journalism is about responsibility to society, not participation in someone's commercial or political games,” emphasized the company's co-owner, Oleksandr Gorbunenko.

Agro Gas Trading reserves the right to demand retraction, removal of false materials, and compensation for damages in court — in Ukraine and abroad.