LVIV, Ukraine — Dmytro Kovalenko, a Monaco-based businessman currently under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) for multi-million dollar financial fraud, has emerged as the new beneficial owner of «Navigator Mainytske,» a company holding a long-term hydrocarbon extraction license in the Lviv region. In late May 2026, the company officially announced plans to construct a new gas pipeline to transport raw materials, despite Kovalenko’s ongoing legal troubles.
«Navigator Mainytske» has held a 20-year permit to extract natural gas at the Mainytske field since 2016, with explored gas reserves initially estimated at 748 million cubic meters. In 2021, the asset was acquired for $1.8 million by prominent Ukrainian investment banker Ihor Mazepa and his business partners.
However, a corporate dispute soon erupted. Mazepa later publicly claimed he had been defrauded during the sale, asserting that the actual gas reserves were significantly lower than officially declared. He demanded a revision of the acquisition terms and an adjustment of the corporate rights’ value. By early 2025, Mazepa and his partners officially exited the project.
Following their departure, control of the asset shifted to Dmytro Kovalenko via the Cyprus-registered entity Afki Investments Ltd. In May 2026, the company announced its intention to construct a 13-kilometer pipeline to connect the Mainytske field directly to the «Komarno-State Border» main gas pipeline.
Despite the rapid developments in his energy business, Kovalenko faces severe scrutiny from Ukrainian law enforcement. In March 2026, NABU operatives detained the businessman in Uzhhorod near the Ukrainian-Slovakian border.
According to investigators, Kovalenko is a key suspect in a high-profile NABU case involving illicit financial and property operations, specifically the money laundering of $5.8 million allegedly generated from illegal grain export schemes.
Before entering the agricultural and gas extraction sectors, Kovalenko was heavily involved in the coal trade. According to independent journalistic investigations, he was previously linked to supplying coal from the occupied Donbas region to Ukraine through the Swiss company Adelon AG.
Furthermore, media investigations reveal that in 2021–2022, the Swiss firm purchased over $100 million worth of Russian coal, with a portion of those contracts being executed well after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While criminal proceedings continue, the future of the strategic gas extraction license remains uncertain given the legal exposure of its new owner.