The State Tax Service revoked the licenses for wholesale trade in alcohol of LLC “Ukrainian Trade Distribution Company”
5 March 2025 16:49
The State Tax Service of Ukraine has revoked two licenses for wholesale alcohol trade of Ukrainian Trade Distribution Company LLC, founded by Global Spirit AMG Europe Ltd, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports, citing Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the State Tax Service.
The decision was made based on the results of an actual tax audit.
He noted that facts were established that may indicate tax evasion in the amount of approximately UAH 700 million and the sale of alcohol without licenses. The final amount will be determined after additional control measures are taken.
The Head of the State Tax Service cited one of the facts of violations. In particular, in January 2025 alone, an LLC sold UAH 48 million worth of alcohol to a business entity in Zhytomyr that had previously been deprived of its retail license due to the actual absence of a store. The address where the documents showed that 2-3 truckloads of alcoholic beverages were shipped per day is a house of worship. The company was fined UAH 97 million for unlicensed retail trade.
In total, the company sold more than 37 million bottles of the product without proper accounting and payment of taxes.
In addition, the company lost its license to wholesale alcohol, which was suspended due to the absence of one of the storage facilities listed in the Unified State Register.
Due to these violations, the issue of the entity’s compliance with the risk criteria is being considered. The relevant materials have already been sent to the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Large Taxpayers.
Next, the company will undergo a full documentary audit. In addition, documents on the identified violations are currently being prepared and submitted to law enforcement agencies.
“Schemes to generate excessive profits through tax evasion backfire on those who try to deceive the state. The State Tax Service is consistently fighting the shadow market. Responsibility for those who manipulate is inevitable. The market must work transparently, and the budget must receive proper payments!” Ruslan Kravchenko emphasized.
What the press service of UTDC says
“Only the day before yesterday, we received the award as the largest taxpayer in the industry based on the results of 2024. And today, following an inspection of one of the company’s 20 wholesale warehouses in Zhytomyr, the tax authorities revoked our wholesale license without any legal grounds. This decision is unjustified, as the inspection resulted in a report that did not contain any violations,” the company said.
Regarding the possible fine mentioned in the tax service’s notice, UTDC representatives note that they cooperate with more than 11,000 customers who are legally employed and pay taxes in Ukraine. They add that, as a supplier, they are not obliged and cannot check whether customers have a license on the date of sale, as the license register is closed during martial law.
“Therefore, any penalties for this are legally unjustified,” UTDC said.
The company’s press service also notes that, despite the current situation, it continues to operate as usual. In particular, the company says that LLC:
- pays all salaries on time;
- fulfills export contracts on time;
- provides assistance to the families of 107 employees who are currently in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces;
- provide all necessary supplies to the wounded employees who are being treated in hospitals.
“We hope that this is a technical mistake made by the inspectors and that it will be promptly corrected in the process of appealing this illegal decision. Such actions create a dangerous precedent when any company working with licensed enterprises can be unreasonably accused of fictitious violations and block the activities of the entire industry,” the company summarizes.
It should be noted that Ukrainian Trade Distribution Company LLC was registered on September 2, 2021 in Kyiv. The main activity of the company is the wholesale of beverages, as well as the distillation, rectification and mixing of alcoholic beverages, non-specialized wholesale trade and other related activities.
The company’s founder is the Cyprus-based firm Global Spirits AMG Europe Ltd, which produces alcoholic beverages under the Khortytsia, Morosha and Oreanda trademarks. Mykyta Andriyovych Vasylenko is listed as the head of the company.
It is worth noting that Global Spirits AMG Europe Ltd. is a part of the international alcohol holding Global Spirits, founded by Yevgeny Chernyak. The holding includes such enterprises as Khortytsia distillery in Zaporizhzhia and Odesa Cognac Factory.
Due to Russia’s military aggression, on February 24, 2022, Global Spirits revoked all licenses for the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the Russian market.
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