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Despite the war, companies linked to Russia and Belarus continue to be established in Ukraine
Analysts found 39 newly established companies whose ownership structures include persons associated with Russia and Belarus. Most of these legal entities were registered during the wartime 2022 year and are charitable organizations.
Analysts at the YouControl R&D center found that since the start of the full-scale war, only 5% of 20 thousand companies with a "Russian-Belarusian trace" changed their list of beneficiaries. Specifically — the exit of representatives of the aggressor countries from the ownership structure.
What was checked: whether new companies were registered from 24 February 2022 to 11 July 2023 inclusive with participants/beneficiaries from the Russian Federation and Belarus; what changes occurred in the companies' ownership structures; acquisition by Russians and Belarusians of shares in the charter capital of existing Ukrainian companies.
"Russian-Belarusian trace" in Ukrainian companies: changes of co-owners and re-registration of ownership rights
At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, YouControl created the most complete list of active Ukrainian companies that have a "hostile trace." It included over 20 thousand active Ukrainian enterprises. Among their owners, founders, or ultimate beneficiaries is at least one citizen or resident of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus. During martial law, the YouControl team expanded and deepened the search for links. Initially they included 5 factors in the Express Analysis that instantly show a counterparty's ties to Russia and the aggressor's allied countries; now there are 9.
YouControl counterparty Express Analysis
Over 16 months, only some of these companies experienced changes in their co-owners, namely the exit of representatives of the aggressor countries — Russia and Belarus — from the ownership structure. Analysts managed to identify more than 1000 such firms, which is just over 5% of the total number of enterprises with links to Russia and Belarus. Almost 50% of these companies are registered in Kyiv, about 6,5% are located in Kyiv region. Almost 27% operate in trade, 14% in manufacturing and real estate respectively.
The study found that the disappearance of RF and BY representatives from the ownership structures of Ukrainian companies does not always mean the disappearance of ties to the aggressor countries. Some changes were likely aimed at hiding the "Russian-Belarusian trace."
The most common methods of such pseudo-changes were:
changing data in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs regarding the country of citizenship or registration address of participants/beneficiaries from Russia and Belarus to another country. Most often to Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, and Ukraine;
re-registering ownership rights to probable relatives who have Ukrainian citizenship or citizenship of countries other than Russia and Belarus (matching surnames, and a patronymic that matches the given name of the previous participant).
Telling examples of beneficiary changes from Russia
Russian citizen Ivan Shestak until June 2022 was a beneficiary of 5 Ukrainian companies, including PrJSC "KRYVYI RIH CEMENT", which holds licenses for mineral extraction. Currently 4 firms have no data on beneficial owners, and SE "CHEHPOL ENERGY INVEST" has, since December 2022, been part of the Universal Investment Group of Vitaliy Antonov.
Co-owner of the Reikartz hotel chain, Russian Yuriy Vasin, left the ownership of more than 20 Ukrainian companies. Some assets previously owned by him transferred to the ownership of German citizen Yuriy Kh arson. Co-owners of some companies became Oleh Kudriavtsev from Chernihiv and Stanislav Prokopenko from Zaporizhzhia, who is the head of Brain Solutions. In several firms Yuriy Vasin remained a beneficiary, but now as a citizen of Turkey (LLC "KVADRIUM SERVICE").
In the ownership structure of a number of legal entities that are part of the agroholding "Freedom Farm" of brothers Vadym and Illia Segal, until April–June 2022 there was a Russian Federation citizen registered in Cyprus — Andriy Viktorovych Aheyev.
After April 2022, changes also affected a significant number of companies of the "Mandarin Plaza Group", founded by entrepreneur with Russian citizenship Vagif Aliyev. Marina Vagifina Dorokhina became the beneficiary of 15 firms instead of Aliyev.
Assets of the Russian machine-building holding "GMS" in Ukraine in the summer of 2022 were registered to Volodymyr Matviiovych Lukianenko, who in May 2023-th was sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council. He is the father of one of the holding's co-owners, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Lukianenko.
In the ownership structure of LLC "KOMBIKORMOVYI ZAVOD 'SVITOCH'" the Russian Valeriy Horb was replaced by Ukrainian citizens — Viktor Horb and Mykola Horb. The latter is a former deputy of the Poltava Regional Council.
Artur Grants — a key person of the BF Kapital group of companies, whose main asset is a network of duty-free shops in airports — after the start of the full-scale war changed his citizenship from Belarusian to Armenian. Now, as an Armenian citizen, he is the beneficiary of more than 10 Ukrainian companies.
In May 2022-th, the Belarusian LLC "SVITLOGORSK WELDING ELECTRODE PLANT", which held over 99% of the charter capital of LLC "BEREZNEFARFOR", part of Viktor Slobodyanyuk's PlasmaTek group, exited the list of participants. When the company was owned by the Belarusian enterprise, the beneficiaries were listed as Viktor Slobodyanyuk and Inna Slobodyanyuk.
The perfume retail chain BROCARD (LLC "BROCARD-UKRAINE" and LLC "EXAGON") also changed owner. Now, instead of Russian citizen and co-owner of the Russian retail chain "L'Etoile" Tetiana Volodina, the beneficiary is French citizen Philippe Benassen.
In the autumn of 2022, Internet Association of Ukraine board member Maksym Tuliev replaced Russian Igor Ardes among the beneficiaries of LLC "WEBER" and LLC "EN-LINE". The Belize offshore "SmileInvest" is a participant in both companies. Today "SmileInvest" participates in another 6 Ukrainian firms, but Igor Ardes is still listed as beneficiary there. Also, two companies where Maksym Tuliev is a co-owner (LLC "NETASSIST" and LLC "NETASIST") were in spring 2022 excluded from the Register of operators, telecommunications providers for refusing to block autonomous systems used by the RF to carry out cyberattacks against Ukraine.
At the beginning of 2023, the Deposit Guarantee Fund transferred to the state, represented by the state enterprise "National Investment Fund of Ukraine", the shares of subsidiary structures of Russian state-owned banks in Ukraine, in particular:
the corporate rights (99,8% of the charter capital) of PJSC "PROMINVESTBANK", i.e., all shares that belonged to "VEB.RF";
the corporate rights (100% of the charter capital) of JSC "MR BANK", which belonged to "Sberbank of Russia".
The shares were transferred in execution of the Decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) "On the forced confiscation in Ukraine of objects of property rights of the Russian Federation and its residents", and also the Cabinet of Ministers' order dated 13 September 2022 No. 815-r "On certain issues of carrying out forced confiscation in Ukraine of objects of property rights of the Russian Federation and its residents."
In addition, at the beginning of July 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky introduced sanctions against companies in the orbit of the owners of "Alfa Group" and "Sense Bank", and at the end of July "Sense Bank" (formerly "Alfa-Bank Ukraine") was nationalized.
The change of ownership in favor of the state also took place in the assets of the sanctioned Russian entrepreneur Mykhailo Shelkov. The State Property Fund of Ukraine replaced 4 companies he controlled in the ownership structures — LLC "DEMURINSKYI GOK", LLC "TAI-MINERALS", LLC "INVESTAGRO" and LLC "VSMPO TITAN UKRAINE".
Co-owners of the Russian group of companies "Sodruzhestvo", Oleksandr Lutsenko and his wife Nataliia, until June 2022 were listed as beneficiaries of 4 Ukrainian firms (including LLC "PODILSKA TRADING COMPANY", whose turnover in 2022 year amounted to about 236 million UAH) operating in the agro-industrial sector. Currently the beneficiary is Latvian citizen Dimdins Rolands. According to the Unified State Register, the couple holds Belarusian citizenship.
Yuriy Drobyazko changed his citizenship from Russian to Ukrainian — he is a co-owner of the group "Agrotech-Harantia" and a business partner of co-owner of the "Forum" group, Volodymyr Shkolnyk. Although not all Ukrainian firms listed Drobyazko's Russian citizenship.
In August 2022, Belarusian citizen Maksim Leshchenko left the list of participants of LLC "AMA VIZHN", which during the period 2018–2020 received almost 50 million UAH of state funds to produce the film "Shchedryk". Until February 2020-th, the company's participant was Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
Valeriy Makitsky is a co-owner of more than 10 legal entities operating in the cleaning sector. According to the Unified State Register, during the full-scale invasion he changed his citizenship from Belarusian to Polish. Some of these companies are known for providing cleaning services to Ukrainian state enterprises, and previously a Russian, Eduard Aspit, was present in their ownership structures.
"Hostile trace" in newly established companies: registered as charitable organizations and have Ukrainian registration addresses
During the period of the full-scale invasion of the RF into Ukraine, 39 newly established companies were identified whose ownership structures include persons associated with Russia and Belarus. About half of these legal entities (19) are registered in Kyiv, another 14 organizations are registered in Western Ukraine, 3 in the South and 2 in the East of the country. More than 60% of these companies (24) were registered in 2022 year.
14 legal entities with Russian or Belarusian co-owners are charitable organizations with the main NACE code — provision of other social assistance without accommodation, n.e.c. In most firms, co-owners who are citizens of the RF and BY have a Ukrainian place of registration. However, in 7 companies, citizens of Belarus who are participants in newly created Ukrainian enterprises during the full-scale war, according to the Unified State Register, are registered in the Republic of Belarus and in 1 case in Turkey (LLC "KABANCHYK INC").
Some companies registered during 24.02.2022–11.07.2023 are connected through participants. For example, Russian citizen Kateryna Rapai is a participant in 2 organizations — NGO "MYKOLA RAPAI NAME FUND" and NGO "OLHA RAPAI-MARKISH NAME FUND." The owner of LLC "TRADE UNITED SOLUTIONS" is Volodymyr Zhilkevych, and LLC "TECH LOGISTICS COMPANY" belongs to Olha Zhilkevych. Both are citizens of Belarus and are registered at the same address.
Russians among participants at enterprises in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, and Odesa regions
Over 16 months of the war, a small number of Ukrainian companies that were registered before the full-scale invasion gained participants from the RF and BY. YouControl analysts identified 10 such firms. 5 of them are registered in Kyiv, 3 in Kharkiv region, and one company each in Rivne and Odesa regions.
During the study period, the owner of 4 Ukrainian companies — LLC "STOLYCHNYI MAGAZYN", LLC "KMARKET", LLC "HITPRO", LLC "NOVI STOLYCHNI INVESTYTSII" — became Ukrainian citizen Valentyna Ivanivna Badina, while her place of registration is listed as the Russian Federation. At the same time, a person with the identical full name is a participant in another 12 firms registered in different regions of the country and operating in various sectors. For those firms, the participant's place of registration is listed as Ukraine.
During the full-scale war, LLC "DTA GROUP", operating in the transport sector and co-owned (50%) by Russian citizen Mykola Ivanyushkin, acquired 100% of the charter capital of 3 Ukrainian companies: LLC "SRIBNI KRYLA", LLC "BEK-UP" and PBP "ALMADI". Currently, LLC "DTA GROUP", in addition to the three above, owns corporate rights in another 41 firm in Ukraine.
In March 2023, the owner of LLC "NYORD", engaged in wholesale trade of vegetables and fruits, became Russian citizen Serhiy Dahayev. Since 2021 year he has been a participant in LLC "UKREIN NATS COMPANY." In May 2023-th, a Russian citizen registered in Odesa — Oleksandr Floria — became a co-owner of LLC "AROMA FLORISS." A co-owner of LLC "UKRMILKINVEST", which is part of the Korilkevych family business, in December 2022 became the firm LLC "FAMILY DAIRY INVESTMENTS - 2". A minority owner (0,42%) is a citizen of the Republic of Belarus — Hanna Khomenko.
YouControl Deputy Director for Legal Affairs Danylo Hloba notes: "For Russians (as for citizens of any other countries) who legally resided on our territory, there are opportunities to obtain Ukrainian citizenship provided by law: acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship by birth, by territorial origin, admission to Ukrainian citizenship, etc. For such subjects there are also no restrictions on the alienation and acquisition of real estate. Of course, violations may occur when executing the relevant transactions and registration actions. However, to understand the situation and prevent premature erroneous conclusions, each case should be considered separately.".
Source: YouControl
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