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🔈 Oligarch from a KFC kitchen and coal made from dirt: how a scheme worth hundreds of millions was brewed right under the state's nose
There is a whole industry of “nominal” directors in Ukraine — people onto whom companies are massively re-registered to hide the real beneficiaries, evade taxes, and avoid liability. The most striking example in recent years is Andriy Sosonny, a KFC network employee with a Group III disability from the village of Borshchiv in the Kyiv region.
“Oligarch” with 538 companies
In just the last two years more than 300 firms were registered in Sosonny's name. Altogether his “portfolio” already includes 538 companies. The combined revenue of these enterprises over 2025 year exceeded 581 million UAH. In reality, Andriy Sosonny never managed any of these firms. He works in the kitchen of a fast-food restaurant and, according to the investigation, agreed to become the owner of companies because of difficult financial circumstances—for a few hundred dollars.
How the story began
In August 2023 Sosonny became the owner of LLC “TDM Trading” (now “Leicher”). The company previously belonged to Volyn businessman Andriy Yaruchyk. The new “owner” simply signed a stack of documents at a notary without even reading them.
The investigation established that the re-registration was a classic operation to conceal prior tax fraud. In March 2026 the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found Sosonny guilty of aiding in entering knowingly false information into registration documents. The sentence — 3 years of imprisonment with a probation period of 1 year and a one-year ban on engaging in entrepreneurial activity.
A cynical lawsuit for 30 million
At the same time, Andriy Yaruchyk filed a lawsuit against Sosonny demanding recovery of 30 million UAH allegedly owed for the purchase of the company. Although the company's charter capital was only 10 thousand hryvnias. The court dismissed it because the case should have been heard in the commercial court. The mere existence of such a lawsuit shows how cynically “nominals” are used.
Coal made from dirt for schools and boarding institutions
The most high-profile part of the story is the scheme to supply low-quality coal to state institutions.
A group of companies (LLC “Resources of the Fatherland,” LLC “Zakhidmarket,” PE “Naftoagroservis”) earned nearly a quarter of a billion hryvnias on Prozorro. In tenders they produced quality certificates from LLC “Energo Vostok Antratsyt” and LLC “Promtopresurs,” controlled by Ruslan Bragin and Oleksandr Sosyura (originally from Vuhledar).
In reality the firms bought coal dust and waste on the “black market,” mixed it with soil, stones, and garbage to increase the weight, and supplied this “product” to schools, lyceums, and psycho-neurological boarding schools in Zakarpattia, Lviv region, and Kirovohrad region. The consequences — boilers clogged with slag and cold in the premises.
Examinations confirmed: the fuel does not meet any DSTU standards. When the investigation neared its conclusion, the toxic companies at the beginning of 2026 quickly re-registered ownership to Andriy Sosonny.
Law enforcement nevertheless identified the organizers. Suspicions were filed against Valeriy Ryzhyholov, Serhiy Hlukhov, Oleksandr Sosyura, and Ruslan Bragin. One of the group leaders was sent to pre-trial detention with bail set at 4,58 million UAH.
The biggest paradox — even after loud exposures the scheme did not stop. LLC “Zakhidmarket” continued to win tenders in 2026.
Meanwhile, lawsuits and fines keep falling on Sosonny's name:
✔️ tax debts of LLC “Oktan 101” (over 10,7 million UAH);
✔️ debts of LLC “Heympi Fast”;
✔️ fines of LLC “TD “Ukrtolevo” (previously the company had revenue of over 93 million UAH).
Andriy Sosonny's story is not just the fate of a single “pound.” It is a systemic problem of Ukraine's public procurement and business registration system. The state prosecutes poor nominal directors with disabilities for years, while the real organizers of the schemes buy new passports and continue to siphon millions from the budget.
Until there is strict accountability for those who stand behind such schemes, “oligarchs from KFC kitchens” will remain a convenient cover for the true beneficiaries.
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