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Billions from the state, AMCU fines, and criminal proceedings: how Oleg Mitrokhin's firms operate
Conspiracy over tenders, established by the Antimonopoly Committee, criminal proceedings over Army supplies, premium car fleets, and mansions near Kyiv. Journalists of Stop Corruption TV continue the series on defense procurements. This time the focus is on businessman Oleg Mitrokhin, who is nicknamed the “gray cardinal” of contracts for Army materiel supply.
More details in the report by Denys Stradetsky for Stop Corruption TV.
For nearly a year, Stop Corruption TV journalists have been studying procurements for the Ministry of Defense. The new investigation begins with suppliers of personal protective equipment, for which the state has raised claims.
Helmets that failed inspection
The first example is LLC AK-Investprom. The company received large state contracts for protective equipment, but their performance ran into problems and the case went to court. Under one contract, the firm was to supply a batch of combat ballistic helmets. As the court materials show, according to the acceptance-test act from 12 August 2024, 4950 helmets totaling over 39 million UAH were not accepted because they failed quality control. The state demanded nearly 29 million UAH in penalties, and the court partially satisfied these claims.
Under another contract, from 11 June 2024, the state, due to improper fulfillment of obligations, claimed from the company more than 52 million UAH. Thus, for just two contracts, claims against AK-Investprom exceeded 81 million UAH. The issues concerned not only delivery times but also the quality of the products.
A similar story happened with LLC Milikon UA. In 2025 year, the company received a contract worth 217 million UAH for body armor for the army. They delivered on time, but the items did not pass acceptance testing. As wrote in the Center for Anti-Corruption, the products contained a “Chinese plate,” they perforated and had skew stitching. The Kyiv Commercial Court ruled to recover from the company 97 million 430 thousand hryvnias in penalties.
Leader-NTZ: half a billion in contracts and not a single bulletproof vest
Next journalists return to LLC Leader-NTZ, discussed in the first episode. In January 2026, the Defense Procurement Agency signed a contract with the company for 40 thousand ballistic helmets worth nearly 296 million UAH. The first 10 thousand were to be delivered by the end of June. Later the firm received two more contracts for modular body armor: for nearly 33 million and 150 million UAH. In total, almost half a billion hryvnias. At the same time the enterprise as “Leader-NTZ” exists only since the end of 2025 year. Previously it had a different name, different business profile, and different owners.
Problems began already with the first contract. As of 27 August, instead of 10 thousand helmets the company delivered only one thousand. During technical checks the products showed discrepancies in weight, dimensions, and interior finish. The batch was sent back for rework several times, and, as stated in the documents, the deficiencies were systemic and repeated the same each time. On 27 August, the Defense Procurement Agency unilaterally terminated the contract and decided to impose a penalty of 20% of the value of undelivered goods.
The situation with the body armor was even worse. As of the end of September, for neither of the two contracts did the company deliver a single set. No finished products were found during inspection. According to the AOP, mass production of ballistic components was never started due to a shortage of main raw materials, polymer materials supplied by a foreign company. Production times remained uncertain, so both contracts were terminated. For one, the company was charged 6,56 million UAH in penalties, for the other almost 30 million UAH.
After that, Leader-NTZ began publicly linking itself to Oleg Mitrokhin. The No Stop movement authors called the company a structure within his “orbit.” In other publications of this outlet, Mitrokhin and Gleb Yevtushenko are mentioned together through a chain of firms: MIC, PakoptTorg, EkipTorg, Defense, Kredo-Bereg, and SuperMIC. However Stop Corruption journalists note that no direct corporate link between Mitrokhin and Leader-NTZ was found in open registries. For now, this is a version that requires verification.
MIC: market manipulation in tenders and glasses priced five times higher
Among the firms directly connected to Mitrokhin, the most prominent is LLC MIC. At the end of 2025 year, the Antimonopoly Committee established that in the auctions of the State Logistics Operator (DOT) in 2024 year, MIC and LLC PakoptTorg acted not independently but coordinated their behavior to eliminate competition. The procurement concerned covers for modular bulletproof vests and winter windproof jackets. For two violations MIC was fined 30 million UAH, PakoptTorg another 6,3 million UAH.
Remarkably, who exactly ‘competed’ with MIC. According to Anti-cor Fund, PakoptTorg took part in auctions 16 times and never won. In the winter jackets tender, MIC won. In another procurement, PakoptTorg’s competitor was YugStal, another Mitrokhin-connected firm. The publication thus raises a logical question: was PakoptTorg a technical participant needed only to create the appearance of competition?
Moreover, MIC faces criminal proceedings where investigators examine a version of collusion between its officials and DOT staff. According to the investigation, they ensured wins for controlled firms and supplied to the Armed Forces goods of inadequate quality at inflated prices.
A separate episode concerns 23 thousand ballistic goggles that MIC was to deliver to DOT for 32,4 million UAH. Investigators reviewed Alibaba and found Chinese dealer goggles/masks priced roughly from 214 to 300 UAH per piece with a minimum order of 200 units. MIC contract provided 1409 UAH per item. As part of the case, a search was conducted at the company’s office. In January 2026, the court refused to lift the seizure of the seized property, as the investigation continues and the property was recognized as evidence.
Additionally, per the Anti-Corruption Center, BEEB is checking MIC in a criminal case for possible misappropriation of property on a particularly large scale and tax evasion.
In the past, journalists also found a Russian trail for the company. According to data on foreign economic activity, up to 2018 the MIC purchased materials from Russia. In an archived version of the firm’s profile, it is stated that fabrics were bought from Russian manufacturers. That is, these purchases continued even after the Crimea annexation and the start of the war in Donbas.
Today MIC has 37 cars in its fleet. Among them are new BMW X5, Lexus, Cadillac Escalade, and Land Rover. The latter two could cost on the market 200 thousand dollars and more. All this against the backdrop of an open proceeding regarding possible tax avoidance.
A MIC sales manager told journalists on the phone that she knew nothing and advised calling other numbers listed on the site. An official inquiry to the company remains unanswered.
Unik BulaVa: General, Our Land, and a BMW 7-series
LLC Ukrainian Scientific-Engineering Company BulaVa Mitrokhin founded in 2022 year together with his son Artem and the Ministry of Defense general Evgen Zamotayev. In 2015, Zamotayev ran for the Zaporizhzhia regional council from the pro-Russian party “Our Land.” In its storyline it is linked to under-sanctioned Oleg Muraev, whose media for years spread Russian propaganda.
Unik BulaVa also drew the attention of the investigation in a case about possible collusion with DOT officials. The company conducted searches, seized documents and a hard drive. Recently the firm, which specializes in fastening and threading products, bought a BMW 740d xDrive 2025 year. Even on the secondary market such cars cost from 120 to 160 thousand dollars. When asked about the criminal case and why such a vehicle is needed for production, a company representative said journalists could send a request.
Yugstal: fake VAT and Porsche for metal tanks
Zaporizhzhia Yugstal, whose co-founders include Andriy Zaika, figured in a tax evasion case on a particularly large scale. According to the investigation cited by Anti-Cor, the scheme involved fictitious VAT credit purchases and cash withdrawals through “risky” companies. In September the court released the defendants from criminal liability and closed the case. It is unclear how much tax was evaded and how much was returned to the state from public data.
A Yugstal representative, when asked about police claims against Zaika, who was named among the defendants in the proceedings since 23 June, answered in Russian. He said everything is stated in the court order and obligations have been fulfilled. The company’s fleet includes a Porsche Cayenne 2024 year. The company explained that the vehicle is used for “official activities.” At the same time, according to the KVED, Yugstal manufactures metal tanks.
Partner with an Occupied Trail
Another detail. Until 2026 year Mitrokhin was the beneficiary and head of LLC EnergoPol, which trades in fuel. Among the firm’s co-owners remains David Hodjayan. A person with similar initials is presumably the founder of LLC Mayak-2, registered in the occupied city of Yenakiieve in the Russian registers and paying taxes to the Russian budget.
Billions from the state and mansions
Despite investigations and fines, Mitrokhin’s companies remain active participants in state procurements. In the last three years alone MIC received state contracts for more than 6,8 billion UAH. Yugstal, over its entire existence, signed more than a thousand contracts totaling over 3 billion UAH.
Personally, the businessman’s affairs are also going well. According to TSN, Mitrokhin recently purchased a luxury estate near Kyiv valued at about 80 million UAH. Also in 2023 year he became the owner of luxurious property in Pechersk.
On his Facebook page, Mitrokhin posted a message in Russian. In it he wished for Putin’s death, peace, and health for everyone, and at the end said “Glory to Ukraine!” He did not want to speak with journalists. When the journalist introduced himself and began explaining the material’s topic, the businessman hung up and did not answer again. They sent him questions via WhatsApp, but there is no response yet.
Contracts, cars, and square meters show that Mitrokhin’s business is thriving. But responses to journalists’ questions are notably more modest.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Палаци, Porsche та оборонні мільярди: що відомо про бізнес-імперію Олега Мітрохіна, – розслідування". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: StopKor.
