Russians illegally withdraw their money from Ukraine: large-scale scheme with re-registration of companies exposed

At least 621 companies in Ukraine have illegally lost their Russian owners while continuing to operate and win government tenders. Loopholes in the legislation and lack of control allow Russian capital to leave the country without hindrance.

Opendatabot writes about this. With the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has taken numerous measures to control and block Russian assets, including restricting the ability to re-register companies where the ultimate beneficiaries or owners are Russian citizens.

However, the investigation revealed that despite these restrictions, the Russian owners were able to withdraw their assets from control and continue their activities in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian law, any change of ownership or beneficiaries in companies with Russian capital is subject to strict control by the Ministry of Justice.

However, practice shows that over the past three years, at least 621 companies have successfully got rid of their Russian owners and continued to operate in the Ukrainian market. Many of these companies participate in public tenders, winning millions of dollars in contracts.

Opendatabot appealed to the Ministry of Justice with a list of companies that could have illegally changed owners or beneficiaries. Spot checks were conducted on 10 companies, and 8 of them were found to have violated registration procedures. Despite this, none of the changes of ownership were canceled, and the companies continue to operate, participating in public tenders and making a profit.

Some of the companies that illegally changed ownership are quite successful in the market. For example, RAVETTI UKRAINE registered at a massive address, made a net profit of UAH 4.7 million last year and continues to win tenders in the regional gas companies of Kyiv, Rivne, and Sumy. Other companies such as GESTLIFE TRAVEL and DOMOFON. ENGINEERING. OCHORA, also operate successfully in the Ukrainian market despite their ties to Russia.

Some companies have suffered losses or have unpaid debts, such as EXMO EXCHANGE UKRAINE, which changed its name to LALANA GROUP and now has debts to the budget. However, they continue to operate without significant legal consequences.

A number of notaries and state registrars who certified the changes are responsible for illegal re-registrations. In some cases, they were temporarily deprived of access to the registers, but these individuals did not suffer any more serious consequences. In the case of PALVI TELECOM, the notary referred to a Russian's residence permit in Ukraine, but the Ministry of Justice could not find this document in the registers, which raised even more questions.

The Ministry of Justice comments that registration changes can only be canceled by a court decision or in the case of a complaint from a person whose rights have been violated. However, since in most cases the deadline for filing complaints has already passed, the process becomes virtually impossible. In addition, there is often no specific victim, since the Russians actually benefit from these operations, and the state of Ukraine has no direct mechanism to initiate consideration of such cases.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the company EMBAWOOD UKRAINE LLC, owned by a Russian citizen, participates in the National Cashback program. It also continues to win government tenders despite its ties to the aggressor country.

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