JKX Oil & Gas Group Statement

The British JKX Oil & Gas Group informs about the continuation of a raider attack aimed at seizing the Group’s gas production business in Ukraine by disseminating false and compromising information about the Group’s activities with the aim to initiate criminal proceedings.

It is worth noting that the black PR campaign against JKX began in 2024. This campaign was triggered by JKX’s active position in protecting its investments in Ukrnaftoburinnya, after the company's shares were illegally seized and transferred to the management of Ukrnafta. It is also worth noting, that under Ukrnafta’s management, Ukrnaftoburinnya's license was unlawfully revoked, resulting in losses exceeding 10 billion UAH for the company, its legitimate shareholders, and the State of Ukraine due to non-extraction of hydrocarbons and unpaid taxes. Amid the ongoing war with Russia, such actions bear signs of direct economic sabotage. Due to significant public outcry, the license was reinstated. Currently, multiple court cases are ongoing, and criminal proceedings initiated by JKX are investigating the actions of Ukrnafta’s director, S.F. Koretskyi, and his associates.

In response to JKX’s legal actions, asset raiders have accused JKX in the media of previously owning assets in the aggressor country and allegedly paying taxes there. The ultimate goal of Koretskyi and his associates appears to be the potential seizure of JKX’s property in Ukraine – Poltava Petroleum Company – via unlawful asset freezing or the imposition of sanctions.

On February 19, 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a series of searches at the offices of the company and at the residences of members of the executive body of Poltava Petroleum Company. These investigative actions were carried out without the legally required court rulings, citing an alleged urgency.

We once again emphasize that JKX is a British, not a Ukrainian company, and operates strictly within the framework of British law. Since the imposition of international sanctions against the aggressor country, JKX has fully complied with all sanctions and has completely lost any control over its assets in Russia. Consequently, it bears no legal responsibility for the activities of these non-controlled enterprises or their tax payments in Russia. Attempts to manipulate the Security Service of Ukraine into executing the raiders’ plans on distorted legal grounds directly violate Ukraine’s international commitments to investment protection.

Furthermore, we are unaware of the legitimate grounds for the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) imposing sanctions on JKX’s former beneficiaries, who owned only 27.5% of the company and whose legal entity was liquidated in 2022. To prevent the spread of false information by unscrupulous media, JKX has proactively and officially submitted all necessary supporting documents to the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), and other relevant authorities, confirming the company’s complete loss of control over Russian assets since early 2022.

Regarding the operation of JKX’s assets in Russia from 2014 to 2022, we inform that until 2022, JKX was a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange, with over 800 different shareholders, and strictly adhered to British corporate laws. There were no legal or sanction-related restrictions on holding assets in Russia during this period. It should be remembered that, at the time, many state-owned Ukrainian companies, such as Naftogaz of Ukraine and Ukrtransnafta, continued providing services to the aggressor country and its monopolies, thereby contributing to Russia’s budget. Moreover, JKX’s assets in Russia were later nationalized by Russian courts, and JKX itself was officially declared an extremist organization harmful to Russian interests – a fact we have publicly reported multiple times.

JKX has already provided the Security Service of Ukraine with complete information concerning the allegations circulated in the media and demands strict adherence to procedural law, objectivity, and impartiality.

Additionally, in response to the unprecedented case in history where the NSDC of Ukraine has, as justification for imposing sanctions on individuals, effectively accused a publicly traded British company of financing the aggressor country, we are now compelled to officially appeal to the competent law enforcement authorities of the United Kingdom to protect our legal rights.

Despite the intense pressure, JKX will continue its systematic support for Ukraine’s Defense Forces, having already provided over 210 million UAH in aid.