ATB

From the Department for Combating Organized Crime to the Largest Retail Chain — and Occupied Territories

ATB-Market was founded in 1998 by former Soviet militia officer from the Department for Combating Organized Crime, Hennadiy Butkevych, along with partners Yevhen Yermakov and Viktor Karachun. Today, it is the largest Ukrainian supermarket chain — with over 60,000 employees. ATB has been accused of conducting business in the "DPR," "LPR," and Crimea — where Butkevych sold part of the business to entities linked to the Russian Minister of Agriculture. The Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2015 opened a criminal case regarding terrorism financing through the chain — and subsequently closed it. A corporation connected to Butkevych's partners was suspected of tax evasion amounting to UAH 145 million and an attempt to fraudulently seize ATB funds totaling UAH 110 million. 

"Zelensky’s Favorite Oligarch" and Cases That Close Themselves

Activists and journalists publicly call Butkevych "Zelensky’s favorite oligarch" — criminal cases against ATB strangely close one after another. In particular, a case regarding illegal resource extraction was closed in 2023 "due to lack of corpus delicti" after three years of investigation. Butkevych was an assistant for over six years to a People's Deputy from the Party of Regions — former deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) — and publicly declares that "business should not be connected with politics." The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) opened an investigation regarding Butkevych providing a helicopter to the head of the SBU in Sumy region — further investigation results have not been disclosed.