Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
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WhiteBIT: the “Ukrainian” exchange, offshore companies, collaborators, and a Russian trace
Officially, Vladimir Nosov presents himself as the founder and owner of WhiteBIT. He has repeatedly stated that the exchange is registered in Lithuania. A search in Lithuanian registries indeed leads to WhiteBIT Solutions LLP. However, that company is registered in the UK, and its founders are offshore structures — Whitebit LTD and Coddan Nominee.
The picture is even clearer in the Estonian registry. R&D Sprint Effective OÜ, formerly called Whitebit Financial Company OÜ, is registered in Tallinn. The authorized person for that firm is Vladimir Nosov. The oldest company of the group under Estonian jurisdiction is Whitebit Financial Company OÜ itself — it was created at the time the exchange was launched.
According to the British publication Cryptointelligence (article “Is WhiteBIT helping Russia evade sanctions and launder money?”), the real beneficiaries of the “Ukrainian” exchange are father and son Shentsevs. Dmytro Shentsev is a former member of parliament from the Opposition Bloc, a recipient of the Order “For Merit”; in 2022 he moved to Russia and took Russian citizenship.
His son Mykyta Shentsev is a former deputy of the Kharkiv regional council from the Opposition Platform — For Life. President Zelensky deprived him of Ukrainian citizenship. Mykyta has held Russian citizenship since 2014.
Vladimir Nosov did not create the company alone. Among the initial partners were Anna Yankovska, Maria Repeshko, and Mykyta Shentsev. Repeshko has long worked with Shentsev in the legal field. Later other people appeared in the structure — in particular Hlib Ushakov and WhiteBIT Vice President Oleksii Kovalov. At the same time, Mykyta Shentsev’s share grew. As of 1 March 2023 he controlled 51% of WhiteBIT Financial Company OÜ, another 5% belonged to Maria Repeshko. On 2 March 2023 his shares were re-registered to Nosov.
Cryptointelligence concludes that the formal change of owners does not change anything in substance: Shentsev simply removed the asset from risk, leaving Nosov as a nominee. On 24 February 2023 the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) obliged NABU to investigate facts of funds being taken out of Ukraine, tax evasion, and cooperation with the Russian Federation by WhiteBIT.
According to the same British investigation, WhiteBIT appears in movements of funds linked to the Russian exchange BTC-e. At the end of March 2023 about 12 million dollars in bitcoin from wallets tied to BTC-e arrived on WhiteBIT. The founder of BTC-e, Russian national Alexander Vinnik, was previously extradited to the United States on charges of laundering billions of dollars. European financial authorities in the fall of 2022, as part of the EU’s eighth sanctions package, also examined WhiteBIT’s activities and concluded that the exchange continued to serve Russian customers.
Against this backdrop, WhiteBIT actively positions itself as a partner of Ukrainian state services, including the Diia platform. Access to Ukrainians’ personal data — both inside the country and of those seeking consular services abroad — in such a configuration raises separate questions.
Another element is Coddan Nominee, a co-founder of WhiteBIT Solutions LLP. It is registered at the same Seychelles address as Whitebit LTD. Researchers link Coddan to an offshore network. In 2014–2016 years Coddan was among the founders of Sofbiz, which transferred about 1,5 million euros to the organizers of the failed attempt at a coup in Montenegro in October 2016. According to Montenegrin investigation, the funds passed through Cypriot accounts. The alleged goal of the coup was to prevent Montenegro’s accession to NATO.
In light of these facts, NABU’s refusal to open a criminal case based on materials passed to detectives in January 2023 and the subsequent fate of the investigation the court obliged to conduct appear at least inconsistent. The state company registries in Lithuania, Estonia, and the UK remain open. They record a complex offshore structure, changes of formal owners, and the presence of individuals who publicly chose the Russian side.
Whether this is sufficient for a full-fledged probe by Ukrainian law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies is a question that so far remains without a clear answer.
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