26.06.2025 Money laundering

Kaufman’s empire: how a tobacco monopolist avoids taxes and the law in wartime

Borys Kaufman, an Odesa-based oligarch known for his ability to prosper under any government, has created an empire that not only monopolized the tobacco market but also became synonymous with large-scale tax evasion and money laundering schemes. His company, TEDIS UKRAINE LLC, along with a number of controlled companies, has been siphoning off billions of hryvnias for years, leaving the state without taxes and law enforcement officers without interest in investigations.

Who is Borys Kaufman?

Borys Kaufman is an Odesa-based businessman and founder of the Vertex United investment company, which includes hotel assets (Bristol, London, President Hotel), media and investment projects. Before the full-scale invasion, he was ranked 46th in the Forbes list of the richest Ukrainians. However, Kaufman’s key asset is TEDIS UKRAINE LLC, the largest distributor of tobacco products in Ukraine, which, according to experts, controls up to 80% of the retail cigarette market. This monopoly was formed by aggressively buying up competitors and putting pressure on smaller companies that could not compete with Kaufman’s empire.

Another giant company associated with Kaufman, DL SOLUTION, showed revenues of UAH 50.6 billion in 2023 and UAH 88 billion in 2024. However, the official profitability is surprising: in 2023, the profit amounted to only UAH 61.3 million (0.12% of revenue), and in 2024 – UAH 106 million (also 0.12%). For comparison, the average profitability of the retail market is 2-3%, and the tax burden in the industry usually hovers around 3-5%. In the case of DL SOLUTION, the tax burden is only 0.1%, which is 20-30 times lower than the market average.

Such low profitability indicates obvious schemes. A business that does not manufacture products but only resells cigarettes cannot be so low-margin without the use of shadow mechanisms. According to economic expert Oleksiy Pronin, tobacco distribution in Ukraine is a “pure cash withdrawal scheme” and is one of the main instruments of cash cashing in the country.

Despite numerous facts pointing to the illegal activities of TEDIS, law enforcement agencies have been ignoring the monopolist for years. In January 2024, the BES sent a case to the court on legalization of UAH 1.3 billion and tax evasion of UAH 300 million by TEDIS. However, the main suspect was not Kaufman, but the company’s director Taras Korniachenko. Despite a long trail of criminal and administrative cases, Kaufman himself was not affected by this case.

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine also does not see TEDIS and DL SOLUTION as a monopoly, although their market share is 70-80%. This raises the question: why do law enforcement agencies and regulators turn a blind eye to Kaufman’s activities? Is it not the result of political “roofing” or corruption?

By the way, a dozen criminal proceedings have already been initiated based on our materials, in particular, the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office registered a report No. 42025160000000007 under Part 1 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the State Bureau of Investigation in Kyiv – No. 62025100110000006 under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Kaufman’s schemes are not just a story about rich business. This is a story about how billions of hryvnias that could have been spent on the army, roads or hospitals end up in the pockets of oligarchs. Kaufman’s tobacco empire continues to operate, avoiding taxes and responsibility. The State Tax Service closely monitors your sales on OLX or parcels on Nova Poshta, but for some reason does not notice the monopolist with a profitability of 0.12%.

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