Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Oleksandr Dementiyenko once ranked among the richest people in Dnipro, and now appears in court cases over a billion-dollar debt and business in occupied Crimea. His business ties repeatedly lead to Russia: to a partner sanctioned by the RNBO, investments in Russian industry, taxes paid into the Russian budget, and, according to media and the investigation, to the state corporation Rostec.
The key figure in this story is Russian citizen Mykhailo Myronovych Shchegolevskyi. He has long been a joint partner of Dementiyenko and Viktor Pinchuk since the Interpipe days, where Dementiyenko worked with 1991.
When in 2004 the partners decided to part ways, Dementiyenko, according to “My U.E.”, joined forces with Shchegolevskyi. Together they claimed assets worth 750 million dollars. After the intervention of Kostiantyn Hryhoryshyn with the Privat group in 2005, the businessmen received about 100 million dollars, two electric grid enterprises, a stake in the Mohyliv Metallurgical Plant, and several smaller companies. Altogether that is about 300 million dollars.
After the “split” with Pinchuk, Dementiyenko and Shchegolevskyi controlled Assets Management Group, writes Henshtab. And in 2016 the owner of the Mykolaiv plant Fregat, which later passed to the Dementiyenko family, was Shchegolevskyi.
Since 2025, Shchegolevskyi has been under RNBO sanctions for actions that threaten Ukraine’s national interests.
Titanium and oil
According to My U.E., Dementiyenko invested in building a plant to produce titanium rod in Russia. He also owned a fifth of the shares of the Russian oil production company Chetdiy Neft.
The trail is also visible in trade. According to YouControl, the Fregat plant had foreign economic operations with Russia since 1999, including in 2016 and 2018, already after the annexation of Crimea.
Crimean “twins” and taxes to the Russian budget
After 2014 the trail becomes direct. Court materials state that Dniprometalservicegroup LLC did not repay Delta Bank over 36,7 million euros of a loan. This company was re-registered under Russian law as OOO Dnepr Metall Service Grupp. The same was done with the pledgor on the loan, Metal Service Grupa LLC: it became OOO Metall Servis Gruppa with the same beneficiaries. Over 2019–2021 this company paid 8,6 million rubles in taxes to the Russian budget.
Another ruling says that Ukrainian citizens, according to the investigation, acting to the detriment of the state’s sovereignty and defense capability, registered these companies in occupied Crimea. They, the investigation asserts, ensure the companies’ operation and payment of taxes to the occupation authorities.
Rostec and Chemezov
According to 368 media, the company cooperates with the state corporation Rostec, directly with its head Sergey Chemezov, in building military boats for the Russian army. Between Dementiyenko and Chemezov, the outlet claims, a chain of intermediary companies operates.
This thesis is also contained in a court decision. It states that Dniprometalservicegroup has financial and economic relations with the Rostec group regarding the construction of military boats for the needs of the RF Armed Forces. According to the prosecution’s version, this may constitute financing of an aggressive war against Ukraine (part 1 of art. 110–2 of the Criminal Code).
A senator and Aksonov’s circle
On the eve of the full-scale invasion, part of the Crimean business was re-registered to Russian owners. However, according to pre-trial investigation materials, the enterprises continued to operate on the peninsula.
According to 368 media, the curator of legalizing the Crimean assets was RF Senator Volodymyr Kozhyn. The fictitious sale-purchase agreement, these sources claim, was executed through Russian securities with people from the circle of the occupation head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov. So far these claims are reported by only one media outlet: the court documents cited by the editorial office do not contain these names.
What’s next
The State Bureau of Investigation is currently probing criminal proceeding No. 22022101110000748 under articles on treason, abuse of power, and financing actions aimed at changing Ukraine’s territorial boundaries. Suspects have not been officially named. The Pechersky court ruling mentions:
companies re-registered under Russian law;
taxes to the Russian budget;
contracts with Russian ship-repair enterprises;
assets related to the same beneficiaries.
Separately, the Commercial Court of Kyiv on 20 December 2024 ordered the recovery of 2 691 251 669,39 UAH from two anonymized persons for Dniprometalservicegroup’s debts. According to journalists, one of them is Oleksandr Dementiyenko.
From the joint division of Interpipe to, according to the investigation, working in the occupied territory and military contracts: a final assessment of this path will be given by the court. The editorial office will follow developments.
Read also: 36,7 million euros from a Ukrainian bank ended up in occupied Crimea: court recovers 2,7 billion UAH from the owner.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "”Юридична вистава” на рівні сенатора рф: хто, за даними медіа, допомагав легалізувати кримський бізнес Дементієнка". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: NARDEP 24.
