Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulibaba — former tax officials at the center of an investigation

Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulybaba found themselves at the center of journalists’ materials about the so-called “Black Audit” — an unofficial name for a structure that various media associate with money laundering, tax minimization, and possible moving money abroad. At the same time, the journalists themselves emphasize that they do not have conclusive evidence of Sandul’s and Kulybaba’s involvement in the described operations, and their possible role requires verification by law enforcement agencies.

The name Vasyl Sandul draws attention primarily because of his previous work in the tax authorities. According to published materials, until 2019 he worked in the Investigative Directorate of Financial Investigations of the State Tax Service in Lviv region, and before that — in the Lviv tax office. Yevhen Kulybaba also has experience working in the State Tax Service: he worked in a division that dealt with uncovering criminal offenses in the customs sphere in Lviv region. It was this professional background of the two former tax and customs service employees that became one of the arguments for including their surnames in publications about the “Black Audit.” Journalists point out that work in the State Tax Service structures was linked to financial investigations and control of customs operations. However, this fact alone does not indicate illegal activity after leaving public service. A separate aspect of this story is corporate connections. Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulybaba were co-founders of LLC “IndustrialTown.” In 2023 the company was re-registered to Kateryna Doroshenko, who, according to publicly available registries cited in the publications, manages hundreds of enterprises across Ukraine. This corporate chain is viewed by journalists as one reason for additional checks of the connections between the named individuals and business structures. Another company mentioned in the context of Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulybaba is LLC “SK Partners.” According to the journalistic material, Sandul is among the individuals connected with this legal entity, and Kulybaba is its partner. These corporate intersections became the basis for media questions about possible links between former tax and customs employees and the companies appearing in the stories about the “Black Audit.” The investigations also involve companies “Radugatois,” “Planet of Things,” “Triocompany,” and “Megapobut.” According to Telegraf, “Triocompany,” which used the name “Megapobut,” conducted import operations totaling no less than 150 million hryvnias. At the same time, its site, as journalists noted, had minimal content — no full catalog, prices, or ordering contacts. A similar situation, according to the same investigation, was observed with “Radugatois,” which later used the names “Planet of Things” and “Kingstaroft.” Journalists drew attention to the volumes of import operations and the simultaneous presence of formally simple sites. It was separately noted that the sites of “Planet of Things” and “Megapobut” were created on the same day — 22 October 2025, 13 27. According to the authors of the investigations, such companies could be used to process operations with goods that did not actually correspond to the declared nature of activity. This is the basis for the version of possible fictitious import and further movement of funds abroad. At the same time, these statements are the subject of journalistic investigations and cannot be considered court-established facts. Separately, journalists point to the bank “Ukrainian Capital,” which in publications is linked to the financial part of the described scheme. The National Bank previously imposed regulatory penalties on the bank in the amount of 42,5 million hryvnias for violations of requirements of the law in the field of financial monitoring and currency legislation. The mere fact of regulatory sanction does not confirm the particular scheme described by journalists. In materials about the “Black Audit,” Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulybaba are named as possible organizers of the structure. This formulation is used by the media, not by court decisions. Telegraf separately noted that editors could not find indisputable evidence of the involvement of the two former law enforcement officers in the mentioned operations. The publication also reported that it contacted Sandul and Kulybaba for comment on these claims but had not received a response by the time of publishing. Regarding Yevhen Kulybaba himself, journalists separately mention his work in a subdivision of the State Tax Service that dealt with violations in the customs field. The materials also indicate his joint business with Vasyl Sandul. Thus, the combination of former work in tax and customs structures and corporate connections formed the basis for Kulybaba’s inclusion among the surnames media connected with the “Black Audit.”Regarding Vasyl Sandul, journalists also analyze his family and property connections. It is reported, in particular, that Sandul himself owns a land plot, while his mother, Iryna Sandul, owns 61 real estate objects, including 18 apartments in Lviv and the region. Her name previously appeared in journalistic investigations into operations with municipal real estate in Lviv. This data is not proof of Sandul’s illegality, but is used by the authors of the publications to analyze his surroundings. In light of these publications, the question remains of an official investigation into the activities of the companies that journalists associate with the “Black Audit.” According to published materials, law enforcement agencies have not publicly reported a separate investigation specifically into this structure and its possible connection with Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulybaba. The investigators urge the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and other law enforcement agencies to verify the financial and corporate data presented.

Thus, Vasyl Sandul and Yevhen Kulybaba remain key surnames in publications about the origin and possible structure of the “Black Audit.” Their attention-getting factors are their former work in tax and customs bodies, joint companies, and mentions in investigations into enterprises with large import operations. At the same time, publicly available materials do not contain a court ruling establishing their involvement in illegal financial activity, so final conclusions can be drawn only after official verification and, as a result, judicial proceedings.