JKX today slammed what it dubbed an “unfounded” police raid.
Two dozen members of the National Police of Ukraine carried out an unannounced search of the Kyiv office of JKX’s subsidiary Poltava Petroleum Company (PPC) yesteday.
It is the third unannounced search this month at PPC’s Poltava offices.
JKX said the investigation “continues to broaden without any apparent reason, justification, outcome or conclusion, it is increasingly taking on the form of harassment rather than a legitimate investigation into PPC’s business operations”.
A spokesperson said: “The group strongly believes that these actions are unfounded. PPC continues to cooperate with the enquiry, and has been providing all materials requested in the search warrants in full and in a timely manner. JKX and PPC maintain that PPC is in full legal compliance with all relevant Ukrainian law and regulation.
JKX supports the intention of the Government of Ukraine as expressed by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on 23 January, ‘to declare war on everyone who hampers entrepreneurs creating new jobs and the Government leading the country out of absolute poverty.’As a leading investor and employer in Ukraine over the past 22 years, the company believes it is exactly this kind of harassment that the Government is attempting to halt.”
JKX is an independent oil and gas exploration company that is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Ukraine is one of the key markets in which it operates. It also has licenses to operate in Russia, Hungary and Slovakia. In Ukraine, JKX’s wholly-owned subsidiary PPC is one of the largest private producers of oil and gas in Ukraine.