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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Monopoly on Passports: How Tkach’s GERTS Payment System Earns Millions on DP “Dokument” Services
LLC “Payment Center ‘GERTS’” (and related structures of Kostyantyn Tkach’s group) has for a long time been the exclusive handler of payments for services provided by the state enterprise DP “Dokument.”
This is a branch of the migration service that issues and records citizens’ documents. Its role increased significantly with the start of the full-scale war, when a large number of Ukrainians were forced to leave the country. People needed new documents and were willing to pay substantial sums to obtain them. Commercial operators seeking maximum profit took advantage of this. Officially, no contract between DP “Dokument” and “GERTS” is publicly announced. Information about it appears only after submitting an application for a new passport. Applicants are given payment details to pay through the “GERTS” payment system, and no alternatives are offered. In practice, DP officials do not leave citizens the option to choose another method of payment.
“GERTS” holds an NBU license for money transfers without opening accounts and acts as a payment intermediary. DP “Dokument” (an enterprise under the management of the State Migration Service) uses it to accept payments for passport and other administrative services. There is no public text of the contract between the parties available in open access. Information about the commission appears only in the tariffs on the company’s own website.
Only on the “GERTS” website is the commission for such payments explicitly indicated — 3% + 10 UAH. This is one of the company’s lines of business alongside utility payments, fines, and other services. At the same time, this line is not shown in the company’s general list of services. At the end of 2024, the commercial director of LLC FC “GERTS,” Olena Kiselyova, noted that one of the company’s key achievements that year was launching payment acceptance for DP “Dokument.”
Tkach’s companies have repeatedly drawn the attention of law enforcement. The State Bureau of Economic Security opened cases under Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (tax evasion). Searches of the group’s office in Odesa were even conducted this summer. Some proceedings have been ongoing since 2021–2022.
This year the State Audit Service found violations at DP “Dokument” totaling 71 million UAH: unjustified bonuses and allowances, as well as procurements without proper procedures amounting to over 52 million UAH.
Are there alternatives to such payment intermediaries?
LiqPay (“PrivatBank”) — one of the largest systems; the commission usually amounts to 1,5–2,75%.
Portmone — has long worked with utility and budget payments.
WayForPay, EasyPay, iPay, NovaPay and others.
“Privat24”, monobank, “Oschad 24/7” — often allow payments by requisites.
For the MIA service centers a proprietary “Payment Hub” has already been implemented. It generates a single payment document with a QR code that can be paid via mobile banking or any other service. Expansion of the hub to other state services was planned.
Regarding DP “Dokument,” there is no public information that “GERTS” is mandatory. Citizens can formally pay by the enterprise’s requisites through a bank or other services if such requisites are provided. However, on-site or on the website they are offered “GERTS” because it is technically more convenient for the enterprise itself.
Given the scale of cash flows (DP “Dokument” has already provided DMS services worth over 1 billion UAH), the existence of investigations into “GERTS,” and confirmed violations within DP “Dokument,” NABU, the SBU, the State Bureau of Investigations, and State Financial Monitoring have grounds to thoroughly verify the nature of the parties’ cooperation, contract terms, commission volumes, and possible risks of money laundering or abuse.
For years Tkach embedded his structures in various government bodies, turning state financial flows into private profit. Has the digital state really failed to create its own payment system? Why does it allow an intermediary to receive significant funds and move them abroad? Who ensured the inviolability of this model all these years?
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Монополія на паспортах: як платіжна система «ГЕРЦ» Ткача заробляє мільйони на послугах ДП «Документ»". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
