The tax authorities have uncovered a scheme to funnel nearly 200 billion hryvnias abroad via a network of high-risk companies
The State Tax Service has uncovered evidence of a large-scale scheme to transfer funds abroad via a network of over 2,300 business entities. According to the agency, these companies carried out foreign trade transactions totalling over 198 billion hryvnias, after which they effectively ceased operations.
The information was obtained following an analysis of National Bank data covering the period from 2024 to the first quarter of 2026 regarding breaches of settlement deadlines.
The vast majority of transactions involved the export of goods. In particular, 1,243 companies carried out exports worth over 176 billion hryvnias. A further 555 companies carried out import transactions worth over 18 billion hryvnias.
The largest number of companies showing signs of violations are concentrated in the Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions, as well as in the Kyiv region and in Kyiv itself. These regions account for 73% of all violators and 78% of the total volume of such transactions.
Lesya Karnaukh, Head of the State Tax Service, reported that a significant number of companies were re-registered to the same individuals following these transactions.
According to her, 1,643 individuals linked to the offending companies are simultaneously involved in the management or ownership of over 42,000 other companies. Seven individuals have also been identified, each of whom is the director or founder of more than 500 companies. In total, over 7,000 business entities are under their control.
Among the company directors who are wanted, 13 individuals head ten or more enterprises, and 245 individuals are linked to at least two offending companies.
The State Tax Service notes that such a concentration of management functions is uncharacteristic of real business and may indicate the use of nominal directors.
Tax officials have also established that many companies used identical IP addresses, submitted reports via the same computer networks, and were registered at the same addresses. In particular, 20 such companies are registered at a single address in Kyiv, whilst 10 and 13 companies are registered at separate addresses in Lviv.
Following inspections in the field of foreign economic activity, over 70 billion hryvnias in penalties have already been imposed for breaches of foreign exchange legislation.
The State Tax Service has forwarded all materials to the Office of the Prosecutor General for further processing. In addition, analytical reports have been prepared regarding 557 business entities, which indicate signs of legislative violations and possible laundering of proceeds obtained by criminal means.
