Shadow empire worth 2 billion: how Astion is cleaning up financial “tails” ahead of the threat from NABU and BEB?

The battle over the seized assets of the IDS Ukraine holding (producer of “Morshynska”), with an estimated total value of 5,8 billion UAH, is reaching a new level? In a previous analytical investigation, StopKor already described how the management company UKRKAPITAL (KUA “UKRKAPITAL”) of Serhiy Belyashov, linked to the notorious Dnipro businessman Vasyl Astion (referred to in media circles as the “wallet” of oligarch Vitaliy Khomutynnik), is claiming management of this billion-hryvnia asset of the sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Are sanctioned oligarchs trying to preserve real control through a facade of “Ukrainian managers”?

However, while the media and law enforcement untangle the details of the “Themis” and “Forrest Gump” cases, in which Vasyl Astion is named as a figure, a huge financial web of his family and entourage remains in the shadows.

While Astion himself, who according to Ukrainska Pravda appears on NABU tapes as “Vasya” or the “judicial overseer” of the Stolar-Mykytas team, may be hiding in Vienna, Austria, his key businesses seem to be systematically “cleaning up” their tails, going through controlled bankruptcies and mysteriously disappearing from state registers.

According to the INSIDER UA channel, the list of companies in the Astion orbit that law enforcement likely intends to seize is quite extensive.

StopKor’s editorial team, based on open sources, conducted its own analysis of the activities of five key Astion structures — JSC “Closed-end Non-State Investment Fund ‘Genesis Capital’” (AT “ZNVKIF ‘Genesis Capital’”), JSC “Closed-end Non-State Investment Fund ‘Capital-Finance’” (AT “ZNVKIF ‘Capital-Finance’”), JSC “Bank ‘Ukrainian Capital’”, LLC “Fingroup Factor” and LLC “Inter Way Capital” — and revealed the scale of a financial empire that now seems to be rapidly sinking.

JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Genesis Capital’”: a 2-billion screen with a “Kurchenko” shadow

JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Genesis Capital’” (EDRPOU 43331193) was registered on 5 November 2019 — as the registers show, literally months before structures connected to the Astion brothers began massively entering the capital of Bank “Ukrainian Capital”. This is reported by 368.media.

The aggregate assets of this venture fund, according to the media, are striking:

2022 year: 1,73 billion UAH;

2023 year: 1,82 billion UAH;

2024 year: 2,03 billion UAH;

2025 year: 1,99 billion UAH.

Almost 2 billion hryvnias concentrated in a single fund — a level that exceeds the assets of most Ukrainian second-tier banks. Logically, such a structure should be under strict monitoring by the NACPFR and the State Financial Monitoring Service. However, the fund demonstrates wonders of “conspiracy.”

Until 2024, the ultimate beneficiaries of the fund were officially listed as brothers Vasyl Mykolayovych Astion (50%) and Yevhen Mykolayovych Astion (50%), and the manager was Andriy Chubotin. But after a wave of criminal cases and searches, information about the beneficiaries and the manager was suddenly and synchronously removed from the EDR, and the legal address was changed from Harmatna Street to Velyka Vasylkivska Street. Today the fund’s manager is listed as Anatoliy Lopushynskyi.

So who manages these assets? According to media reports, management is carried out by PrJSC “KUA ‘Brokbusinessinvest’” (EDRPOU 22968535).

This is the same notorious management company that historically served the bankrupt “Brokbusinessbank” of the young oligarch of the Yanukovych era, Serhiy Kurchenko, from which more than 14 billion UAH were withdrawn.

Despite the bank’s liquidation, KUA “Brokbusinessinvest” survived and today manages not only citizens’ pension assets worth 3,4 billion UAH, but also the 2-billion fund of the Astion brothers. Moreover, one of KUA’s shareholders (25% of shares) is Serhiy Pud — beneficiary of LLC “Ukrgaz Invest”, which, according to Spilno, creates a direct gas-financial bridge between the orbits of Khomutynnik and the Astions.

JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Capital-Finance’”: Dnipro foothold for offshore schemes?

Another instrument in the Astion family’s financial arsenal is JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Capital-Finance’” (EDRPOU 35396933), registered in Dnipro. This fund, with authorized capital of over 105 million UAH, is directly linked to the Astion brothers.

In their NACP declarations, Vasyl and Yevhen Astions repeatedly listed this fund as a source of their corporate rights and financial assets. It was through “Capital-Finance” and the Cyprus offshore structure Dnipro Agro Alliance LTD, according to the Antikor project, that the brothers allegedly controlled dozens of agricultural enterprises in Dnipropetrovsk region.

It is worth noting that in September 2022, detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) opened a criminal case regarding the Astion brothers’ tax evasion in the amount of 61,5 million UAH. Law enforcement did not officially disclose the names of the businessmen. However, court registry data indicate that the case concerns co-owners of the Dnipro Agro Group, Vasyl and Yevhen Astion, reports Liga.net.

According to the investigation’s version, funds were systematically funneled to Cypriot accounts precisely through these agricultural and investment companies, which gives some grounds to suppose that “Capital-Finance” may have acted as a transit hub for accumulating funds before their transfer abroad.

JSC “Bank ‘Ukrainian Capital’”: bypassing NBU limits and a “silent” regulator?

Perhaps the most brazen financial operation by the Astion brothers, in our view, was their participation in JSC “Bank ‘Ukrainian Capital’.”

According to official NBU data cited by 368.media, as of 31 January 2020, Vasyl and Yevhen Astion owned shares in the bank through their fund “Genesis Capital.” Each brother registered a stake of 9,99%. Together this amounted to 19,98% of the bank.

Why exactly 9,99%? Under Ukrainian banking law, “significant participation” in a bank begins at 10% and requires mandatory approval from the National Bank of Ukraine. By structuring shares at 9,99% each, the Astion brothers effectively circumvented the NBU threshold regulation, avoiding a strict check of their reputation and the origin of funds.

The ultimate owner of the bank is the family of Serhiy Belyashov (who, according to our data and insider information from journalist Volodymyr Bondarenko, is also claiming the “Morshynska” assets through “UKRKAPITAL”).

However, an anomalous situation arises: although the Astions were removed from the list of beneficiaries on the oversight page, the NACP declarations do not record the sale of these share packages during 2020–2023 for some reason.

This raises logical questions for the National Bank:

Who actually owns the 19,98% of the bank’s shares that were under the Astions’ control, today?

Did the NBU grant permission for the disposal of these shares?

Could this bank have been used for shadow transactions by organized criminal groups, in light of Astion’s appearance on NABU recordings as the “judicial overseer” of the Stolar-Mykytas group?

LLC “Fingroup Factor”: license annulments before BEB suspicion

LLC “FC ‘Fingroup Factor’” (EDRPOU 38945479) — a financial company where 100% of the capital in 2019 belonged to the Astion family (45% each to brothers Vasyl and Yevhen, 10% to their mother Olga Astion).

At the end of December 2023, the NBU suddenly annulled all licenses of this company with the wording: “refusal to allow an inspection.” In other words, the regulator’s auditors were simply not allowed into the financial company’s office. Why did the Astions take such a radical step, effectively destroying a licensed business?

The answer appeared within 11 days. On 9 January 2024, BEB and the Office of the Prosecutor General informed Vasyl Astion of a suspicion of tax evasion in the amount of 61,4 million UAH.

Could the license have been deliberately “burned” to hinder seizure of financial documentation during a tax audit?

Despite the seriousness of the charges, in Dnipro it seems that the “right” connections kicked in: judge Saidullaev of the Zhovtnevyi District Court reduced Astion’s bail by 61 times — from 61,4 million to a symbolic 1 million UAH, as StopKor reported at the time, and in March 2025 the case was quietly closed “due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.”

Strangely, immediately after this, in February 2024, the AMCU had no problem allowing the same de-licensed “Fingroup Factor” to purchase large assets of Vitaliy Khomutynnik — “Developer Company ‘KasKad’” and “Inter Way Capital.”

1. LLC “Inter Way Capital”: Artificial bankruptcy to cover tracks

The Inter Way Capital LLC acquired from Khomutynnik (EDRPOU 40890026, authorized capital 50 million UAH), according to Ukrainska Pravda, is now fully controlled by the brothers through the fund “Genesis Capital.”

This company is known for its “aggressive” business style:

It was the one that purchased multimillion debts of PUMB bank related to the Complex Agromars holding (producer of “Havrylivski Kurchata”) and attempted to foreclose large production complexes in Havrylivka and Dymer through the courts.

It also tried to buy for next to nothing (for 341 million UAH at a valuation of 971 million UAH) the elite office center of the liquidated Arkada bank, with an area of 14 thousand sq.m near Khreshchatyk metro station.

However, already on 10 March 2026 the Economic Court of Kyiv region opened insolvency proceedings for LLC “Inter Way Capital” on the company’s own initiative.

According to our colleagues’ estimates, this looks like a classic self-bankruptcy aimed at writing off toxic liabilities and covering tracks. After all, in August 2026 a huge scandal broke with NABU tapes in the “Forrest Gump” case, where “Vasya” appears as the chief judicial fixer for Stolar-Mykytas, allegedly securing dubious rulings to legalize 150 million UAH in bail for former energy minister Herman Halushchenko.

Consequences and conclusions: deliberate destruction of business or preparation for flight?

The entire financial scheme of Vasyl Astion resembles a prearranged house of cards that is now being urgently dismantled:

Key beneficial control in the 2-billion “Genesis Capital” fund is hastily being transferred to nominees, and the Astions’ names are being erased from the registers.

The credit instrument “Inter Way Capital” is launched into an artificial bankruptcy procedure to write off debts.

The licenses of “Fingroup Factor” are liquidated by the NBU after a brazen refusal to allow an inspection.

The stake of 19,98% in the Bank “Ukrainian Capital” evaporates into thin air without proper public reporting.

According to investigative journalists from Ukrainska Pravda, Vasyl Astion is currently in Vienna, Austria. Might the bankruptcies and re-registration of assets be an attempt to avoid potential special confiscation of property and seizure of assets by NABU, SAP and BEB?

StopKor calls on the National Bank of Ukraine, NACPFR, the State Financial Monitoring Service and NABU detectives to pay close attention to these financial maneuvers.

Allowing persons with such a background and a trail of criminal cases to manage strategic state or seized assets (such as “Morshynska”) could pose a threat to Ukraine’s national and economic security during wartime.

We will continue to monitor developments and court proceedings around the Astion financial empire.

Recall: the court has initiated bankruptcy proceedings for Inter Way Capital LLC from the orbit of businessman Vasyl Astion, who is linked to a number of high-profile raiding stories.