From «BloodSaver» to the Russian pharma: how the pharma giant «Enamine» legalized an underground business

From «BloodSaver» to the Russian pharma: how the pharma giant «Enamine» legalized an underground business

There are stories that initially seem unrelated. On one hand, the scandalous and illegal production of hemostatic bandages «BloodSpas» (BloodSaver) transformed into BloodSaver, and on the other hand — a large Ukrainian producer of chemical compounds «Enamine», which is at the center of a scandal about supplying products to Russian pharmaceutical companies through third countries. If you study this topic in more detail, it becomes clear that these two stories intersect through money and corporate links.

At the beginning of 2026 year, a hemostatic BloodSaver appeared on Ukrainian marketplaces with the note «former BloodSpas». Investigating its origin from public registries and media materials shows a picture in which illegal production of «BloodSpas» in Obukhiv, a charitable foundation of a billion-dollar chemical company, and Russian pharma turn out to be parts of one story.

Let’s proceed step by step, what is «BloodSpas»? In March 2022 year, when the full-scale war had just begun and regulatory and law enforcement bodies paused inspections during martial law, in the town of Obukhiv in Kyiv region, chemist Ihor Tsyurupa organized illegal production of hemostatic bandages under the name «BloodSpas». Medical products were manufactured in full unsanitary conditions, without sterilization control, and were sold to volunteers under a «goods in exchange for donations» scheme at a pre-agreed price. Hemostatic bandages are applied directly to an open wound. Large foundations were the first to realize what was happening. The Prytula Foundation refused to purchase «BloodSpas», followed by «Wings of Victory» and others. Also in 2023 year, attempts by the organizers to push 1 a million units of «BloodSpas» for defense ministry procurement collapsed. Regarding the underground production itself, the national police opened a criminal case.

Despite the illegal nature of the production, some structures, including the charitable fund «Enamine», despite potential danger to the lives of soldiers or patients, continued to work with Ihor Tsyurupa on a regular basis and made purchases of «BloodSpas». Moreover, in posts about fundraising (for example in this post 2023 year) Ihor Tsyurupa indicated as donation recipients the account of the charitable foundation «BO «Enamin» (EDRPOU code 43520050), and next to it his own PrivatBank card and PayPal. In other words, «donations» to illegal production of «BloodSpas» were collected both through the accounts of the Enamin charitable foundation and the organizer’s personal accounts.

Taking advantage of the martial law regime that reduced inspections, the underground production operated at full capacity, producing counterfeit medical products and selling them en masse to volunteers, through whom they reached the front. On his Facebook page Ihor Tsyurupa 15 2026 years he himself stated that from the start, i.e., for almost four years, more than 3 million packs of «BloodSpas» bandages and pads were produced outside the legal framework, without paying taxes and without quality control.

In February 2026 year, the organizers of the scheme announced the closure of the project, and a few days later presented a new product named BloodSaver. Essentially, a rebranding of «BloodSpas», a basement «volunteer» project suddenly received a new brand, a new website, and registry data show multimillion investments. The manufacturer was announced as LLC «Taktispas», which was founded by Ihor Tsyurupa in June 2022 year.

Organizer of the artisanal BloodSpas production Ihor Tsyurupa. Photo: Facebook

Now the main question of any investigation: where did the money come from? The answer lies in the same data of public registries. 1 July 2025 year, about seven months before the «rebranding», the owners of LLC «Taktispas» include the Charitable Organization «Charitable Foundation «Enamin», which was mentioned above, and another owner of LLC «Taktispas» becomes Lyudmila Babichenko, the ultimate beneficial owner of this Foundation. Ihor Tsyurupa’s stake falls from 100% to 51%, the «Enamin» foundation receives 49%.

According to open registry data, Lyudmila Babichenko is also the founder and ultimate beneficiary owner of the LLC «Scientific-Industrial Enterprise «ENAMIN» (LLC «NVP «ENAMIN»), registered at Kyiv, Churchill Avenue Winston, 78. The Enamin charitable foundation is also registered at this address. The director of the foundation, according to registers, is Andriy Tolmachov, who publicly signs as CEO and founder of the company «Enamin».

When the story came to light, Enamin denied that this was its investment: allegedly, the stake belongs to the foundation. Legally the foundation is indeed a separate entity. But if the structure bears your name, is in your building, belongs to your owner, and is run by your CEO, it sounds like a classic «catch». There is also another detail. The main activity of the foundation is providing other social assistance. What relation does 49% of a commercial hemostatics producer that operated illegally for 4 years have to social assistance? Yet after this, money started to invest in the rebranding of «BloodSpas». The assets in a year jumped from two million to almost twenty-five. In other words, the toxic basement asset was repackaged under a new brand. Tsyurupa was not removed; he remains in control of the firm and the face of the project.

One could stop there: a large company entered a dubious business through a foundation, it happens. But there is a second layer to Enamin itself, which concerns the Russian Federation, the aggressor country. Before the full-scale invasion, according to investigations, Enamin employees actively conducted joint scientific research with Russian scientists and even participated in joint conferences. For example, in 2019 year, on the fifth year of the war in Donbas, together with Saint Petersburg State University, research funded by a megagrant of the Russian government was conducted. The Latvian entity SIA ENAMINE shipped products to Russian buyers, including Saint Petersburg’s BIOCAD, a supplier of medicines for state programs of the Russian Federation. One batch of Enamin’s product went to Russia for BIOCAD 17 February 2022 year, a week before the invasion. And in June 2022-th, BIOCAD filed a patent application where the basic block of the key molecule became a substance from the Enamine catalog.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, the scheme complicated. According to media, Enamin’s products continue to reach Russia through India and China, i.e., exactly where the enemy today obtains most of its chemistry to circumvent sanctions. In China, according to investigations, since 2024 year, Enamine products are cleared by and sold to its strategic partner, Shanghai-based Genez, and the import schemes on their joint site are explained by «geopolitical reasons». After customs clearance in Shanghai, the Ukrainian origin of the molecule legally disappears, and it can travel to Russia as a Chinese reagent. Among Genez’ clients, incidentally, is Mabwell, which is organizing production of its medicines in Russia.

There is also a completely public channel. Enamin founded in Riga (Latvia) an international marketplace Chemspace, where more than 180 suppliers are represented, and many of them, according to customs data, supply products to Russia or cooperate with Russians. Indeed, according to media, the Chinese LEAP CHEM supplies products to «Rusmedtorg», which the US Treasury added to the sanctions list for work in the Russian defense sector. ELK Wuhan supplies «Pushchinsky Laboratories», servicing the criminalistic laboratories of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. And the Chinese Angene supplied products to «Medstandart» from the «Chemmed» network, which the US Treasury associates with chemical and biological weapon programs and FSB special laboratories involved in the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Moreover, according to media, the Peterburg-based BioUnity even in 2026 year lists «Enamin» among its suppliers, Russian-language aggregators index the company as a current source of compounds, and Enamin employees continue to speak at international conferences alongside Russian scientists.

And now back to BloodSaver. When «BloodSpas» was artisanal, illegal production in Obukhiv, the Enamin charitable foundation already cooperated with Tsyurupa: it purchased his bandages, and the foundation’s requisites appeared in posts collecting funds for this production. In other words, the Enamin foundation dealt with a product produced illegally outside state control, even when other foundations refused it.

What followed could be called legalization. When the BloodSpas brand became toxic, in July 2025 year, the Enamin foundation and Lyudmila Babichenko entered LLC «Taktispas». What had existed illegally for four years received money and a legal shell.

It is important to understand that this foundation is not a random charitable structure. Lyudmila Babichenko is the ultimate beneficiary owner of the Enamin foundation and LLC «NVP «ENAMIN». The foundation is registered at the same address as the company, and is headed by Andriy Tolmachov, who publicly signs as CEO and founder of the company «Enamin». Thus, through Babichenko and joint management, the foundation (and also «BloodSpas/BloodSaver») is directly linked to a company known worldwide as one of the largest suppliers of chemical compounds. And whose products, according to media investigations, continue to reach through China and India to Russia even after the invasion — the aggressor country. Thus, as we see, in the global pharmaceutical giant Enamin there is no contemplation of ethical questions in choosing ways to make money, whether it is the Russian market or legalization of artisanal medical product productions like «BloodSpas».

International pharmaceuticals are very sensitive to two things: quality and sanctions risk. Hemostatic bandages produced without quality control and sterility, and supply chains that, according to media, lead to structures sanctioned by the US Treasury, hit exactly at these two points. Partners who purchase compounds for drug development have the right to ask who stands behind the company, where its products go, and whether the owners’ behavior meets the standards it proclaims. At minimum, cooperation with «BloodSpas» and its subsequent legalization does not meet these principles.