NABU Tapes and the “Carthage” Operation: How Serhiy Kropiva Divided Quotas and Weighed on Cash Registers in the State Tax Service

NABU tapes and the “Carthage” operation: how Serhiy Kropiva divided quotas and “controlled the tills” in the State Tax Service

One of the most intriguing fragments of the NABU tapes in the “Carthage” operation is two episodes related to the work of the State Tax Service.

In the first episode, we hear that the detained head of the OGP cyber department, Serhiy Kropiva, received from the chief a quota for appointing a deputy head of the Tax Service, who was assigned the covert duty of supervising some tills.

And, judging by the analysis of the period of appointments, it could be Ihor Panchenko, who received the position of deputy head of the Tax Service for digitalization in February 2026 year.

In the second fragment, the same deputy head of the tax service discusses with Kropiva and another OGP employee salaries in envelopes.

Carefully listening to these episodes, it becomes clear why the tax authorities have no questions about most tax schemes, including the story of stolen 5 billions in excise duties on bioethanol.

It also becomes clear why law enforcement agencies have no questions about the tax agency itself.

This is a tax service—the tax service as it should be.