18.06.2025 Business of Occupiers

Candy for the enemy: how Roshen trades with Russia through shady schemes

The products of the Roshen confectionery corporation, which is linked to Petro Poroshenko, regularly appear on Russian marketplaces such as Wildberries, despite the company’s official statements that it has stopped trading with Russia.

According to the investigation, acting Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Serhii Zvyahintsev, acting Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine Serhii Perkhun (who allow disguising exports to Russia under the guise of legal supplies to third countries), as well as Petro Poroshenko, involving a number of controlled individuals and legal entities, including the State Enterprise “ROSHEN Management Company”, created an organized criminal group. Its goal is to systematically supply Roshen products to Russia through intermediary chains in countries friendly to Russia, such as Kazakhstan and Georgia. These actions not only violate Ukrainian law, which prohibits economic cooperation with the aggressor country, but also directly harm national security.

Petro Poroshenko, the leader of the European Solidarity party and Ukraine’s fifth president, is a key figure in this scheme. His son, Oleksiy Poroshenko, is also involved in the management of business structures that provide exports. According to the investigation, it was Petro Poroshenko who founded the offshore company Prime Asset Partners Limited in the British Virgin Islands in 2014. This structure became the basis for the creation of an international network of companies that provide non-transparent exports of Roshen products through intermediary countries.

How the scheme works: how candy gets to Russia

The products of Roshen Management Company are exported to Russia through intermediary countries, in particular the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Georgia. The official website of Roshen Corporation lists these countries as key export markets in the section on export geography. However, Roshen has no production facilities in either Kazakhstan or Georgia. This means that the products labeled as imported from these countries are actually produced in Ukraine – at factories in Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Kremenchuk – and re-exported to Russia through intermediary structures.

Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, where Russia plays a dominant role. Thanks to the common customs zone, goods from Kazakhstan freely enter Russia without additional checks. This makes Kazakhstan an ideal transit point for Ukrainian products, which are labeled as Kazakhstani to conceal their origin.

Georgia, which refused to join international sanctions against Russia after 2022, also plays a key role. Georgia’s active trade and economic ties with Russia allow Roshen products to be re-exported to the Russian market without hindrance. On Russian marketplaces, such as Wildberries, there are regularly current items of Roshen confectionery (Shalena Bees, Shokolapki, Slivki Lenivki, etc.) with labeling indicating production after 2022.

A network of offshore companies is used to ensure the opacity of the scheme. Founded by Petro Poroshenko in 2014, Prime Asset Partners Limited (British Virgin Islands) established CEE Confectionery Investments Limited in Cyprus, which, in turn, established Roshen Europe BV. These entities are responsible for signing contracts with distributors in Kazakhstan and Georgia, creating a multi-level chain of intermediaries. This scheme allows to conceal the ultimate beneficiaries, avoid taxation in Ukraine, and formally comply with sanctions while maintaining a commercial presence in the Russian market.

Export profits are deposited in offshore accounts and not declared in Ukraine, which facilitates tax evasion and concealment of the real beneficiaries.

Financial success amid the war

Despite the martial law and economic challenges in Ukraine, SC ROSHEN demonstrates impressive revenue growth:

  • 2022: revenue of UAH 23.6 billion.
  • 2023: net sales revenue of UAH 33.5 billion.
  • 2024: revenue increased by 17.4% to UAH 39 billion.

Interestingly, the share of the Ukrainian market in the company’s sales structure has decreased. This indicates a reorientation of the business model towards exports, in particular through intermediary countries that provide access to the Russian market. The stability or slight growth of sales in Europe cannot explain such a significant increase in revenues. The main contribution to the growth of exports is probably provided by shadow deliveries to Russia.

Political context: protection from European Solidarity

Interestingly, MPs from the European Solidarity party are actively justifying trade with Russia, claiming that Roshen products are sold in many countries and that it is not the company’s problem to get them to Russia. This position is outrageous, especially against the backdrop of statements by Russian MPs who publicly confirm that Poroshenko supplies products to Russia through offshore schemes, but that the Russian authorities do not prevent this.

Did you witness a crime?

Let us know about it. We will help protect the violated rights!

Share the post:

Last news

ALL NEWS ALL ARTICLES