Over 198 billion hryvnias were transferred abroad: The State Tax Service uncovered a network of shell companies
3 June 20:56
The State Tax Service of Ukraine has uncovered evidence of a large-scale scheme to transfer funds abroad through a network of high-risk businesses.
This is stated in a report by the Tax Service, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
The scheme involves more than 2,300 companies that conducted foreign economic transactions totaling over 198 billion hryvnia and subsequently effectively disappeared.
Characteristics of the schemes and their scale
The State Tax Service obtained this information by analyzing data from the National Bank for the period from 2024 to the first quarter of 2026. Most of the transactions involved the export of goods: 1,243 companies exported goods worth over 176 billion hryvnia, while 555 companies imported goods worth over 18 billion hryvnia. Such activity indicates a coordinated network of business entities.
As stated in the report:
“This data indicates involvement in an organized scheme to transfer funds abroad.”
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Geographical Distribution
Most of the offending companies are concentrated in 7 regions of Ukraine:
- Odesa,
- Kyiv,
- Dnipropetrovsk,
- Lviv Oblast,
- Kharkiv Oblast,
- Kyiv region,
- Zaporizhzhia region.
These regions account for 73% of all violators and 78% of the total volume of such transactions. Among the company executives who are wanted, many head several, and sometimes even dozens, of companies.
Many of the offending companies used the same IP addresses, submitted reports from the same computer networks, and were registered at the same addresses.
For example, in Kyiv, 20 such companies are registered at a single address, and in Lviv, 10 and 13 companies, respectively.
The State Tax Service has forwarded all collected materials to the Office of the Prosecutor General for further review and decision-making in accordance with the law.
To date, the State Tax Service has already prepared analytical findings regarding 557 business entities, indicating violations of tax legislation.
READ ALSO: The Price of Transparency: How Small Businesses Will Pay for Ukraine’s Latest Attempt to Combat Shadow Schemes
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