29.03.2025 Corruption Investigations Money laundering

Excise-free cognac, zero taxes: how the State Tax Service concealed the production of counterfeit goods for years

Купити, замовити, товар від Виробника "ТОВ "АБК Дніпро"" | Алкоголь купити | Інтернет магазин алкоголя- MAGTORG

Imagine: you buy a bottle of cognac or vodka in a store, thinking that you are paying for a legal product. But instead, your money ends up in the pockets of fraudsters who have been stealing from Ukraine’s budget for years, laundering millions through offshore accounts, and spitting on the law.

At the center of this scam is ABK Dnipro LLC, a company from Tsarychanka that has become a symbol of corruption and impunity. Thanks to collusion with State Tax Service officials, this company not only avoided punishment but also received a green light for illegal alcohol production.

ABK Dnipro LLC: A counterfeit factory from Tsarychanka

For years, ABK Dnipro LLC has been systematically producing alcohol without excise stamps – from Dnipro cognac to Ambasadoriu Premium vodka and even alcohol in plastic bottles under the guise of Sebek water. These products not only avoid taxes, but also pose a threat to the health of Ukrainians.

This is how it looks like: The plant in Tsarychanka is producing thousands of liters of counterfeit alcohol. For example, during searches in December 2024, the BES found more than 1,000 bottles of Dnipro cognac without excise duty, 300 six-liter containers of Vodka Sebek with alcohol, and 72 bottles of Ambasadoriu Premium vodka.

The products are labeled as manufactured by Oleksandriya-Blig LLC or Chuhuiv Mineral Water Plant, although in fact they are counterfeits from ABK Dnipro.

The proceeds are withdrawn through shell companies, cryptocurrency transfers and offshore accounts, concealing millions in profits.

Over the three years of its operation, the company has been caught red-handed several times. It has been deprived of licenses and included in the list of risky enterprises by the State Tax Service due to massive violations. But each time it was “resurrected” – and not without the help of “friends” in the government.

Collusion with tax officials

On February 4, 2025, something happened that makes us think about the depth of corruption in the State Tax Service. By Decision No. 41480, tax officials excluded ABK Dnipro LLC from the list of risky companies – despite mountains of evidence of its criminal activities. Why? According to our information, this was the result of a conspiracy between the company’s management and tax officials, who received a “reward” for their “blindness”.

What did this give ABK Dnipro? The freedom to continue its illegal business without inspections and sanctions. All this against the background of searches by the Bureau of Economic Security, which only confirmed the scale of the problem:

  • December 2024 (proceedings No. 72024001210000006): bottling lines, thousands of bottles of counterfeit alcohol, and draft records of unaccounted-for production were seized.
  • February 7, 2025: 19,000 liters of alcohol, 3,600 bottles of counterfeit Petrykivska, and financial documents on tax evasion were found.

But instead of fines or arrests, the tax authorities gave the company carte blanche. Who is behind this “immunity”? Sources in the State Tax Service hint at high-level coordination, from local officials to the central office.

Each liter of counterfeit alcohol means millions of hryvnias that do not reach the budget. The excise tax on alcohol is one of the key revenues of the state, but because of ABK Dnipro, this money goes to the yachts and villas of fraudsters, not to schools or the army.

Kravchenko’s reaction: fast but too late

After the media coverage, the head of the State Tax Service Ruslan Kravchenko reacted with lightning speed. Within a few hours on February 7, 2025:

  • ABK Dnipro LLC was returned to the list of risky companies.
  • The company was deprived of its alcohol production license.
  • The acting head of the Eastern Interregional Department of the State Tax Service was fired.

An internal audit of the State Tax Service confirmed the violations: falsification of reports, assistance to illegal business, and abuse of office. But is this enough? The system that allowed ABK Dnipro to operate with impunity for years has not disappeared.

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