16.07.2024 Business of Occupiers Kharkiv

A member of the Terekhov’s entourage pays taxes in Russia

In the third year of the war, the authorities of frontline Kharkiv continue to show their true colours. Now, it has become known that a member of the Kharkiv City Council from Mayor Terekhov’s entourage from the Kernes Bloc – Successful Kharkiv political party and his business partner not only did not stop communicating with Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion, but also paid taxes to Russia for 20 million rubles. The money was most likely spent on the production of shells to destroy civilians and infrastructure in Kharkiv region.

Who is the case?

In February 2024, the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv published a verdict according to which the businessman was found guilty of doing business in Russia during the full-scale invasion and paying more than 20 million rubles in taxes to the aggressor state (about six million hryvnias). 

For this, the businessman paid a fine of UAH 170,000 to Ukraine and was restricted from working in government agencies. The court justified this punishment by the man’s volunteer activities. Thus, the accused transferred a million hryvnias of volunteer contributions to the Armed Forces. However, is the sentence fair? Given that the man paid 20 times the amount to the Russian budget?

The accused is Oleksandr Romanenko. According to publicly available data, the man is the owner of Frunze Solar LLC (engaged in electricity production, trade and repair of vehicles), Kharkiv Electric Transport Plant OJSC and an additional beneficiary of Prommashpostach Service LLC.

How did the scheme work?

In addition to Ukrainian companies, Romanenko is also involved in Russian companies. In particular, he is the founder of Frunze Plant LLC, registered in Belgorod and engaged in the sale of automotive parts, perforated metal products, furniture and timber. 

The company did not cease its operations after 24 February, but rather signed a number of agreements with Russian companies, including those located in the occupied Crimea.

In February 2023, the Ukrainian PJSC Frunze Plant entered into an additional agreement with the Russian company Frunze Plant and even agreed with the National Bank to make a payment from Russia to Ukraine. Thus, as we can see, the central authorities were aware of such cooperation, but again ignored it.

Relations with a member of the Kharkiv City Council

Along with Romanenko, the co-owner of Zavod Frunze is Oleksandr Vasylenko, a deputy from Terekhov’s entourage. The latter holds a controlling stake, which gives him the ability to make almost all decisions alone. The men are also partners in the management of Frunze Solar LLC. 

In Ukraine, the Frunze trademark was registered by Vasylenko’s JSC. The Russian company uses the same emblem. In addition, the description of the Ukrainian company’s activities coincides with the description of the Russian company’s activities. 

On Vasylenko’s personal Facebook page, in the ‘place of work’ section, there is a link to the page of the Russian Frunze Plant. And Vasylenko himself was once a co-founder of a company in Russia that was part of the Frunze Group of Companies. He owned it together with Romanenko.

Interestingly, Romanenko and Vasylenko are equally involved in the management of Frunze, and therefore communicate with Russia in the same way. So why was only the former charged?

More about Vasylenko

At the request of journalists, Oleksandr Vasylenko himself said that until 2022, his PJSC Frunze Plant supplied products to Russia, and the circumstances after 2022 are set out in the case file. The MP did not answer questions about his involvement in Russian business, cooperation between PJSC Frunze Plant and a Russian company, or flights to Russia.

It is also worth noting that Vasylenko himself has already been involved in one of the proceedings. In particular, the MP was suspected of seizing a land plot of almost 9,000 square metres.

‘The businessman, who is a current deputy of the Kharkiv City Council and a member of the Standing Committee on Urban Development, Architecture and Land Relations, restricted citizens’ access to the squatted territory and began using it for his own business purposes. At the same time, he did not pay mandatory payments to the city budget for the use of the land plot,’ the SBU reported at the time.

According to Vasylenko, the plant does not own or use the entire land plot, and the plant purchased a building on the site in a ‘dilapidated state’.

By his actions, the Kharkiv deputy caused more than UAH 155,000 in damage to the state. But what happened to the investigation after the announcement of suspicion is a rhetorical question. 

What else can we expect from Kharkiv deputies? And why is Vasylenko still a member of the Kharkiv City Council, despite his direct sponsorship of terrorism? Does Mayor Terekhov really not care about the deputies?

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