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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
How the shadow segment of the financial market operates.
Sources in law enforcement agencies and financial institutions named the main groups that carry out conversion of cryptocurrency into real money without the appropriate permits and licenses. According to sources, the owners and beneficiaries of these groups are even known. This is reported by journalist and TV host 1+1 Yevhen Plinsky in the article “Catch the crypto if you can!”.
PoliMoney and Fortex Exchange. These companies are linked to Yevhen Puley.
In the criminal proceedings of the Economic Security Bureau (ESB), as the author notes, it is stated that Fortex.Exchange, using the license of LLC “FC “Centrofinance,” sold cash to “conversion centers,” transported it across the territory of Ukraine and to EU countries, and also carried out illegal currency exchange and sale of cryptocurrencies.
X-change and Obmen24. The owners are named as Hennadii Nesterov and Svitlana Shaparenko.
At the end of last year, the National Bank of Ukraine prohibited these companies from trading in currency valuables and providing financial payment services because they were conducting operations that contained signs of providing money transfer services without opening an account and trading in currency valuables.
However, according to the author, the resources are still operating, services are being provided, and funds continue to be transferred.
“KIT Group.” The owner is named as Anton Tkachenko.
According to the author, the group’s activities include fiat currency exchange, cryptocurrency conversion, international transfers, trade in precious metals and fuel, microfinance lending, financial processing of commercial entities, and converting funds into cash. The author also mentions trade in tobacco products without excise stamps, which, he claims, the company itself manufactures.
Sources in the Verkhovna Rada report that during the ESB investigation into cash desks linked to “KIT Group,” Members of Parliament Oleksandr Bakumov (“Servant of the People”) and Serhii Shakhov of the Dovira parliamentary group expressed concern.
In October 2025 the NBU banned another company of Anton Tkachenko — LLC “FC “Liberty Finance” — from providing financial payment services through KIT GROUP internet services. The reason was the detection of signs of unlicensed activity on the payment market. However, as the author asserts, despite the NBU decision, the scheme continued to operate.
Money 24/7. The owner is named as Andrii Smirnov.
According to the author, the network’s main directions are fiat currency exchange, cryptocurrency conversion, international transfers, trade in precious metals and fuel. In addition to activity the author characterizes as unlicensed, signs of fraud were recorded in this network’s operations. In August of this year, Smirnov was detained by the National Police in a fraud case.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Криптообмінники поза контролем: хто стоїть за найбільшими мережами в Україні". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
