The business of Fiala, who owns UP, continues to operate in Crimea - Arricano financial reports

After the annexation of Crimea, the companies of Czech businessman Tomas Fiala, who owns the online publication Ukrayinska Pravda, continued to operate on the temporarily occupied peninsula and paid taxes to the Russian budget. Such actions can be regarded as aiding the aggressor state, and this is already Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code.

Law and Business writes about this

Commenting on the statement of Ukrainskaya Pravda, the publication recalled that Fiala is the ultimate beneficiary of the Arricano group of companies.

And the fact that the group continued its illegal business in occupied Simferopol even into 2022 is evidenced by the reports of Arricano Real Estate Plc (registered in Cyprus), published on the London Stock Exchange Interim Statement.

“As of June 30, 2022, the Group operates with shopping centers in Kyiv, Simferopol, Zaporozhye and Krivoy Rog,” the report says.

Accordingly, the company's functional currency is the US dollar, as well as the Ukrainian hryvnia and the Russian ruble. And in this regard, the report describes the features of the tax system of the Russian Federation as conditions for doing business.

In particular, according to media reports, the Arricano group includes Voyage-Crimea LLC. This company was the customer for the construction of the second stage of the Southern Gallery shopping and entertainment complex in Simferopol, opened in 2014. After the occupation of Crimea, the company was re-registered in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation (TIN 9102055630). She registered with the Russian Federal Tax Service and began paying taxes.

And even after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Cypriot company Fiala continued to contribute funds to the Russian budget, which were used to finance the war and manufacture weapons, and at the same time for the functioning of the media holding in Ukraine - NV, UP, etc.