The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has charged the owner of the largest alcohol enterprises in Ukraine, Yevgeny Chernyak, with collaborating with Russia, the service said in a statement on December 29 on its Telegram channel.
“It has been established that during 2022, only in the form of paying taxes and fees, the enterprises subordinate to him transferred about 6 billion in hryvnia equivalent to the budget of the Russian Federation. It is documented that the defendant’s enterprises, located in four countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, purchased industrial volumes of alcohol and other related products from Russia,” the SBU argued for the claims against the businessman.
Based on the evidence collected by the SBU, investigators brought charges against Chernyak and six top managers of his companies. According to the department, the issue of seizing their private and corporate property for transfer to the management of ARMA (National Agency of Ukraine for the identification, search and management of assets obtained from corruption and other crimes) is being decided.
According to open sources, Evgeniy Chernyak is the founder and CEO of the Global Spirits holding, which owns the Khortitsa, Shustov, and Pervak trademarks.
On December 22, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that the head of one of the main departments of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was detained in Kyiv for attempting to commit fraud. The arrest occurred for attempting to steal about 1.5 billion hryvnia ($39.8 million) during the purchase of artillery shells.
On November 3, the SBU charged a Verkhovna Rada deputy with organizing a criminal scheme for the illegal export of men liable for military service abroad. According to the case materials, the suspect illegally transported the brother of his common-law wife to a neighboring European state.
At the end of August, the SBU opened a criminal case in absentia against a Kyiv businessman, accusing him of paying taxes worth 50 million rubles to the Russian budget. As the intelligence service noted, the suspect is the owner of a Kyiv trading company and the founder of two more in Moscow.
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