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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
What has the scandal-plagued Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Kovalenko—whom tapped recordings dubbed “the businessman with the Mona Lisa smile”—been hiding over the years? And what role is Vova Liutyi, also known as Vova Morda, a criminal boss from Lviv, said to have played in building his far-reaching business empire?
Dmytro Kovalenko has documented close ties to Russian billionaire and coal magnate Konstantin Strukov. As it turns out, Kovalenko—a resident of the Principality of Monaco—not only associated with the owner of Yuzhuralzoloto, Strukov, who is currently under strict scrutiny by Russian investigators, but also with even more notorious figures: for example, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksii Chernyshov (underworld alias “Che Guevara”) and his “assistant,” the owner of the Halytschyna smuggling-customs post, Volodymyr Didukh, alias Vova Morda—a mafioso and, in the recent past, an aide to former President Petro Poroshenko. Vova Morda and Dmytro Kovalenko hit it off immediately in their joint illegal amber business, and over time the criminal boss Oleh Bohelskyi joined them after a long spell behind bars.
What a prominent “okroshka” [hodgepodge]. It should also be noted that during the recent Operation Midas, carried out on Ukrainian territory by NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) and SAPO (Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office), not only was former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov detained and questioned, but his good acquaintance Dmytro Kovalenko was as well. Mr. Kovalenko was apprehended in Transcarpathia.
Much has already been written about Dmytro Kovalenko’s multifaceted business, but journalists continue to closely watch the turbulent commercial activities of Konstantin Strukov’s friend. In this context, Mr. Kovalenko was recently even forced to publish a statement on the pages of Ekonomichna Pravda trying to clear himself of all slanderous attacks, including those concerning cooperation with Russian coal companies.
And it appears that Dmytro Kovalenko, like his bosom friend Strukov, is also under close scrutiny—this time by Ukrainian investigators. Is it only a matter of time?
Operation Midas
Operation Midas (operatsiya “Midas”) covered Ukraine from mid-2024. The investigations concerned large-scale bribe payments in the Ukrainian energy sector.
This operation lasted 15 months.
During the operation more than 70 searches were conducted, 4 million US dollars were seized, and over 1.000 hours of audio recordings of conversations between suspects were secured.
This was a large-scale anti-corruption investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). NABU charged former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov with unlawful enrichment.
Oleksii Chernyshov became a suspect in an anti-corruption probe in the energy sector and for unlawful enrichment, particularly in connection with several cases at NAEK Energoatom.
He was involved in a fraud scheme called “Schlagbaum”: a syndicated criminal network laundered 100 million US dollars.
Since July 2024 NABU conducted wiretaps in the apartment of Tymur Mindych on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv. The agency then began publishing excerpts of recorded conversations in which members of the criminal group appeared under pseudonyms.
Tymur Mindych, co-owner of the company Kvartal 95 Studio, appeared as “Karlson”; Herman Halushchenko—Ukraine’s Energy Minister (2021–2025)—as “Professor.”
Oleksii Chernyshov—Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Ukraine, Minister for National Unity (2024–2025), Chairman of the Board of NAK Naftogaz of Ukraine (2022–2024)—appeared as “Che Guevara.”
Chernyshov received 1,2 million US dollars and 100.000 euros in cash from the criminal group.
Official documents of Ukrainian investigative authorities confirm a connection between former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, criminal boss Volodymyr Didukh (Vova Morda), and the scandal-plagued businessman who sits on two chairs, Dmytro Kovalenko.
Several businessmen connected with industrial and energy projects in Transcarpathia were mentioned in the context of the investigations.
One of them is Mr. Kovalenko, who is implementing an energy project in Transcarpathia and building the industrial park Energy Group.
This park is registered through the company GmbH VDL; its founders include Dmytro Kovalenko himself, his Cypriot company Afki Investments Limited, and a certain Leonid Ivanov.
Moreover, Didukh-Morda and Chernyshov, as it turned out, have known each other for many years.
Vova Morda was for a long time the “wallet” of the Minister for Regional Development of Ukraine, Oleksii Chernyshov: it was precisely Vova Morda who paid for the ministerial rise of officeholder Chernyshov into a new, high-ranking position.
An interesting detail, or rather details: in the wild 1990s Didukh lived in Moscow, where he earned his first million dollars. As the media have already reported, Dmytro Kovalenko was also a frequent guest in Moscow, where he arranged his business affairs and met with well-known Russian oligarchs.
And Volodymyr Didukh, a citizen of Ukraine, has registered his own sole proprietorship (IP) in Russia since January 2024.
Notably, his patronymic was deliberately omitted so that no one could point a finger at Vova Morda. But why does Didukh even need this furniture business in Russia? We will answer that question later...
Volodymyr Didukh Has Deep Ties to Russia Since the 90s
By the way, Vova Morda also has ample experience financing politicians. He helped finance the Orange Revolution of 2004.
The services of the criminal boss were eagerly used by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko: at that time she waged an intense fight against the Surkis brothers over the privatization of Lvivoblenergo.
Didukh controlled all smuggling in Lviv as well as frauds with alcohol, oil, and gasoline; Morda’s people controlled the Krakivskyi market.
Neither Chernyshov nor Kovalenko were bothered by the fact that Morda was linked to smuggling, extortion at markets, and brutal murders of competitors.
Of course, Didukh himself did not escape the revenge of his rivals: in August 2012 Vova Morda survived an assassination attempt. Didukh’s SUV was shot at in central Lviv with a “Scorpion” submachine gun; the driver was killed, but Didukh survived.
Using his ministerial status, Oleksii Chernyshov handled matters related to Vova Morda’s “shady” construction projects: Chernyshov supported Didukh’s initiatives to maximally deregulate customs processing.
Chernyshov also helped the criminal boss break into a new line of business: smuggled goods from Russia.
Mr. Chernyshov was detained as part of Operation Midas. Even RBC reported this.
It seems, however, that Dmytro Kovalenko also got some “crumbs” from the man’s table—including the opportunity, under the “watchful” eyes of Vova Liutyi, to work the amber fields in the Polissia amber basin.
Amber Mafia: Zhuzhyk and Tychka
At one point two large Ukrainian organized crime groups divided spheres of influence in the amber business between them: after all, the turnover of the amber market amounts to almost 500 million US dollars per year.
Worldwide, Ukraine ranks second in amber reserves after the Baltic region. Mining takes place in the Polissia amber basin, with reserves concentrated in three regions. Rivne region is the epicenter of extraction: the Sarny, Volodymyrets, and Dubrovytsia districts.
The amber mafia settled in the village of Klesiv in Rivne region, where they invented the technology of using a “zhuzhyk”—a firefighting motor pump—and a “tychka”—an explosive long iron pipe driven into the ground.
Crowds poured onto the fields: up to 2.000 people could dig at a single site at the same time.
But such a business could not exist on its own, so organized crime quickly took control: the leader of the criminal group from Lviv, Vova Morda, and the leader of the criminal group from Zhytomyr, Pirat (Viktor Oliinyk), entered the business.
A few years ago the illegal business operated under the following scheme: the diggers organized into brigades, and the brigade leaders handed the amber over to buyers.
Above the brigade leaders and buyers hovered organized crime.
Over time, however, the diggers declared war on the criminal groups and refused to pay protection money to the gangsters.
There were clashes at the shadow digging sites, followed by fatalities.
In 2015 the then-President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, gave law enforcement two weeks to eliminate the “protection patronage” over the amber mining areas.
The National Guard was sent to the digging sites.
Law enforcement eliminated the top of the amber “pyramid,” but immediately another “head” grew in its place: organized crime had no intention of retreating.
As for Dmytro Kovalenko, who was also actively involved in the illegal amber business, he seemed to wear a “cloak of invisibility”: there are hardly any public mentions of his involvement in this sector.
Still, there is no smoke without fire.
And yet Kovalenko was caught in joint dealings with former Prime Minister Chernyshov and his “assistant” Volodymyr Didukh.
Friend—Prosecutor Pakhnyts
In mid-March 2025 news emerged about the arrest of Dmytro Kovalenko by NABU investigators.
The businessman is regularly mentioned in the context of NABU investigations: Kovalenko is accused of using “gray market” schemes, interrupted transit, and covert coal imports through European and Dubai shell companies. The profits are redirected to Cyprus and Monaco and reinvested in the purchase of Ukrainian natural resource deposits.
Returning to the company of the industrial park Energy Group—which was reportedly the reason for the arrest in the spring of last year 2025:
In 2024 a session of the Svaliava City Council in Transcarpathia supported the concept of establishing the industrial park Energy Group in the town.
The initiator of the park and its management company became GmbH VDL, whose owner is Kovalenko, together with—as already reported—the Cypriot company Afki Investments Limited and Leonid Ivanov.
The company received a lease agreement for 35 years for a plot in the Svaliava industrial zone.
Kovalenko reported that he had already invested 100 million UAH in the construction of the park: the company Energy Glass Technologies was established and several other companies were registered—Tak Energy Group, Generator Enerho.
And Kovalenko’s friend Leonid Ivanov was, according to media reports, closely connected with the then-head of the Regional Bureau of Economic Security (BES) of Poltava region, Oleh Pakhnyts.
Ivanov and Pakhnyts founded the law firm De-Facto.
And Mr. Pakhnyts, who served 16 years in prosecutorial positions, later seamlessly transformed into a businessman with extensive assets: including “kilometers” of real estate, 30 plots of land, a fleet of 20 luxury cars, properties in Slovakia, and a private Socata TB 20 GT aircraft.
In 2022 Mr. Pakhnyts took the post of head of the regional Bureau of Economic Security (BES). He even held that post for several years while continuing to do business with Kovalenko’s partner.
Against this backdrop, the investigation into Kovalenko’s company Hranova, conducted by the BES of Poltava region, raised many questions. Investigators suspected companies in the group, among other things, of large-scale tax evasion schemes.
Searches were carried out and documents were seized, but the court refused to freeze the assets. And the case fizzled out!
Meanwhile Kovalenko entered the gas production market and acquired new assets from scandal-plagued businessmen, even though he had previously been involved in illegal amber mining cases.
As it turns out, Kovalenko received excellent “covering fire” from former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov and his loyal “associate” Vova Morda, as well as from the former prosecutor and ex-head of the BES of Poltava region, Oleh Pakhnyts.
Nevertheless, the amber mafia in Rivne region continues its operations.
Amber Galbin, Bohelskyi and Didukh
On 19 March this year, SBU internal security detained several of its own colleagues suspected of covering up amber mining: falling into the SBU trap were the deputy head of the SBU Main Directorate in Kyiv and Kyiv region, the deputy head of the SBU Regional Directorate in Rivne, and a cashier.
This trio demanded 620.000 US dollars from the Amber Galbin group to close a criminal case plus 400 US dollars per day per pump.
Amber Galbin was the first company to receive a legitimate license for amber mining with the right to industrial development in Rivne region 2020.
Problems for the group began, however, when tax evasion of 1,2 billion UAH was proven.
An important detail: Amber Galbin has its own factory for manufacturing amber products where exclusive items are produced.
This recalls the sole proprietorship (IP) of Volodymyr Didukh, a Ukrainian citizen in Russia, which manufactures jewelry and souvenirs, works with wooden containers, straw and wicker materials, and also produces furniture.
And the co-founder of the corporate group (the others remain hidden) is a certain Oleh Bohelskyi—recently a leader of organized crime. Also a furniture manufacturer!
He served several years in prison for drug trafficking.
Notably, after serving his sentence and before his sudden entry into the amber business, Mr. Bohelskyi engaged in activities far removed from amber: he registered as a sole proprietor (FLP) under code 47.59: “Retail sale of furniture, lighting equipment and other household goods in specialized stores.”
It appears that Volodymyr Didukh never truly left the amber mining areas in Rivne region: he merely “handed” the business to his colleague, the criminal boss Bohelskyi, and helped acquire a legitimate license. Over time a large factory began operations.
The turnover of the Ukrainian amber market amounts to 500 million US dollars per year.
And Dmytro Kovalenko is hardly willing to let such a “phoenix” slip from his hands.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Das 500-Millionen-Dollar-Kartell: Wie Dmytro Kovalenko und Vova Morda mit Unterstützung von Chernyshov die Bodenschätze der Ukraine ausbeuteten". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
