The State Tax Service of Ukraine conducted a large-scale analysis of foreign economic operations, resulting in the uncovering of an extensive network of over 2,300 companies, whose activities exhibit signs of systematic money laundering abroad. The total volume of suspicious operations reached 198 billion hryvnias.
This is reported by Finway
Suspicious Activity and Disappearance of Companies After Large Transactions
According to the tax authorities, most of these enterprises ceased active operations after entering into significant export-import transactions. This raised doubts about the real purposes of their existence.
The basis for the investigation was information from the National Bank of Ukraine regarding violations of currency settlement deadlines from 2024 to the first quarter of 2026. The majority of suspicious operations related to the export of goods: over 1,200 companies exported products worth 176 billion hryvnias, while more than 500 enterprises conducted import operations totaling over 18 billion hryvnias. After completing their foreign economic activities, many of these firms lost the characteristics of a real business.
Complex Connections, Network of Nominal Owners, and Mass Registrations
Analysts discovered that 1,643 individuals acting as managers or owners of risky companies are simultaneously linked to over 42,000 enterprises across Ukraine. In some cases, one person appeared as the founder or manager of hundreds of legal entities. According to the tax authorities, seven citizens control over 500 companies each, totaling more than 7,000 enterprises. Such concentration of ownership in the hands of a limited number of individuals, in the opinion of experts, is not typical for legitimate business and may indicate the use of a network of nominal owners.
“The main cluster of companies with signs of violations is concentrated in Kyiv, as well as in Odesa, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhia regions. These regions account for about 73% of all identified companies and nearly 78% of the total volume of suspicious operations.”
During the analysis, the use of identical technical and registration data was recorded: shared IP addresses, the same reporting channels, as well as mass registration of companies at the same addresses. For example, in Kyiv and Lviv, dozens of firms were registered at the same addresses and conducted transactions for significant amounts. Such concentration may indicate centralized management of the network of enterprises.
As a result of the inspections, the tax authorities calculated over 70 billion hryvnias in penalties for violations of currency legislation. Separate analytical materials with signs of tax evasion and possible money laundering have been prepared for 557 enterprises.
All collected materials have been forwarded to the Office of the Prosecutor General, which will determine further procedural actions and identify those involved in the probable scheme.
Additionally, the tax service reported that thanks to the implementation of the electronic service TAX Control, over 3.5 million hryvnias in financial sanctions have already been applied to entrepreneurs and companies regarding which citizens have submitted complaints about possible violations.