Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
From the editor: A scandal has arisen around SMK Group owner Denys Paramonov following claims that he may have controlled enterprises in temporarily occupied Berdyansk and that those enterprises operated under Russian rules. In the materials of criminal proceeding No. 42022110000000490, which has been investigated since 2022, the wording regarding Paramonov’s role changed over time: from a version alleging his direct involvement in re-registering assets under Hennadiy Babayan to a version according to which the businessman may have become a victim of actions by former managers. At the same time, the company denies the widespread accusations, calling them manipulative and possibly part of an information attack. Read the details in the article published by Komentari.
* * * Ukrainian businessmen during the full-scale war repeatedly became subjects of scandals over possible ties to Russia or activity in temporarily occupied territories. One such case was the story of SMK Group owner Denys Paramonov, whose company specializes in the production of sausage products, with major assets located, among other places, in frontline Kharkiv. The new scandal was triggered by a series of online publications in late July–early August 2026. They claimed the businessman might be connected to collaboration with Russian occupation structures and to paying taxes to the Russian budget. SMK Group called these accusations false and manipulative. The company stated that the relevant materials were spread by anonymous sources that do not have media status or, in their assessment, have lost trust due to violations of journalistic standards. The company also suggested that the purpose of such publications could be to destabilize the operation of the enterprises and undermine trust in Denys Paramonov. At the same time, SMK Group did not specify whether particular competitors or other interested parties were behind these materials. On SMK Group’s official website, the holding, established in 2007, positions itself as one of the market leaders. The group includes three meat-processing plants that produce 17 types of products under five brands. Products are sold through more than 600 branded stores. In past years, the company and related entities also appeared in court disputes. In particular, in 2016 in Dnipro a dispute arose around 45 pavilions where SMK Group products were sold. According to local journalists, the co-owners of the company LLC “Hid”, which rented those pavilions, were Denys Paramonov and co-owner of “Berdyansk Sausages” Dmytro Larchenko. This conflict later escalated into a criminal proceeding, which, according to the cited information, is being investigated by the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The case concerns self-construction and building trade pavilions without the necessary permits. A separate court dispute concerned land rent in Okhtyrka, Sumy region. The city council demanded that Denys Paramonov as a private entrepreneur pay over 147 thousand hryvnias of unpaid rent. The court of first instance obliged the businessman to pay 73 560 hryvnias, and the appellate complaint did not change this decision. The scale of Paramonov’s business far exceeds the amount of that dispute. According to YouControl, the entrepreneur is associated with more than 50 commercial entities. The key among them is LLC “Saltivskyi Meat Processing Plant” with authorized capital of 462,9 million hryvnias. Paramonov’s sausage business began to take shape in 2000, and in 2003 the “Saltivskyi Meat Processing Plant” was established, later giving its name to the entire holding. Currently 99% of the enterprise belongs to Denys Paramonov, and another 1% to Natalia Paramonova. In addition to Saltivskyi Meat Processing Plant, the businessman owns the Kyiv, Bohodukhiv, and Kremenchuk meat-processing plants. In 2025 the Saltivskyi Meat Processing Plant’s revenue amounted to 2 billion 986 million hryvnias, while the combined revenue of the Kyiv and Bohodukhiv enterprises was about 1,39 billion hryvnias. From 2021 the Saltivskyi Meat Processing Plant’s revenue grew nearly threefold—from 1 billion 50 million to 2 billion 986 million hryvnias. The total revenue of Denys Paramonov’s business for 2025, according to OpenDataBot, was estimated at 4 billion 680 million hryvnias. The largest portion of claims against the businessman is connected to the enterprises “Berdyansk Meat Processing Plant” and “Berdyansk Sausages,” which operate in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region. According to the materials of criminal proceeding No. 42022110000000490, the investigation examined the possible activity of these enterprises under Russian occupation and the payment of taxes to the Russian budget. In 2022–2023, according to the material’s data, the SBU investigated Paramonov’s possible collaborationist activities. The businessman was also declared wanted during the period from 19 July to 14 September under the materials of this criminal proceeding under part 4 of article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Hennadiy Babayan appears in the investigation materials; through the Estonian company DJP Invest OU he became the formal owner of the Berdyansk enterprises. In Russian registries Babayan is listed as director of LLC “Berdyansk Sausages” and founder of the companies “Berdyansk Sausages,” “Berdyansk Meat Processing Plant,” and “Yupiter.” At the same time, the wording in the court documents in this case changed over time. In the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv’s ruling of 11 May 2023, it was stated that the beneficial owner of SMK Group allegedly assisted the occupation authorities, in particular in producing meat products, supplying them to Russian troops, and paying taxes to the occupation administration. In the same court’s document of 12 June 2026, the description of circumstances is already different. It states that Hennadiy Babayan and Yehor Tolok after the occupation of Berdyansk may have acquired corporate rights to the “Berdyansk Meat Processing Plant” and “Berdyansk Sausages” by abusing the owner’s trust. According to the version presented in the material, it is Denys Paramonov who in the newer case construction appears as the person whose trust may have been abused. Thus, the businessman’s role in the criminal proceeding over several years changed from a version of possible control over the assets to a version of losing control over them. A separate question in the case concerns Babayan’s ties to former MP from OPZZh Oleksandr Ponomaryov, who is in custody on charges of treason. In Ponomaryov’s declaration for 2017 it is indicated that he purchased from Babayan an apartment in Berdyansk with an area of 50 square meters for 209 thousand hryvnias. According to calculations cited in the material, that sum corresponded to roughly 8 thousand dollars at the then exchange rate, or about 160 dollars per square meter. Local sites at the time estimated the average price per square meter of housing in Berdyansk at approximately 300–400 dollars. Another financial aspect of the case is the activity of “Berdyansk Sausages.” According to the estimate cited in the material, the enterprise may have paid about 135 million rubles in taxes to the Russian budget for 2025. Separately, Saltivskyi Meat Processing Plant appears in criminal proceeding No. 72024000120000009 regarding transactions with enterprises that the investigation classifies as fictitious, transit, or risky. Thus, corporate disputes, criminal proceedings, questions of control over assets in occupied Berdyansk, and links of certain participants to former political figures intersect around SMK Group. The key question remains which exact role of Denys Paramonov in the activity of the Berdyansk enterprises will be confirmed by the final court decisions.
Read Fraza on Google News (click "Subscribe")
Subscribe to Fraza channels on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Власник SMK Group Денис Парамонов співпрацював з РФ, - ЗМІ". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Fraza.
