On June 27, 2022, the Russian army shelled the Amstor shopping center in Kremenchuk, resulting in the death of 21 people. Another person, Larisa Kokhanovskaya, was considered missing, and only on April 10, 2023, the court declared her dead.
But while the whole country was stunned by the crimes of the aggressor, the people's deputy of Ukraine negotiated the supply of gasoline from the Russian Smolensk.
We are talking about a criminal group that has been operating in the Poltava region since 2019 and continues its activities thanks to corrupt connections and political protection provided by the people’s deputy from the “For the Future” party, Yuriy Shapovalov. The organizer of this scheme is “entrepreneur” Vitaly Marchenko.
It is he who controls the activities of the VM Group group of criminal companies.
According to sources of our publication, enterprises controlled by Marchenko, such as Azares LLC, Allur Oil LLC and Atlantic 2020 LLC, imported excisable goods, in particular methanol and solvents, from the Russian Federation, using complex supply schemes through European companies. to conceal the true origin of goods and avoid sanctions restrictions.
“Fictitious enterprises were used through which supplies of solvents and fuels and lubricants were carried out, creating the illusion of their legal origin,” notes the interlocutor for the rights of anonymity.
On July 9, 2024, during searches, significant assets were seized that were used in illegal schemes, which made it possible to confirm the facts of the sale of excisable goods and the volume of tax evasion.
During searches as part of criminal proceedings, documents were seized confirming the facts of illegal import and sale of excisable goods, as well as significant material assets, including more than 1.3 million liters of fuel and lubricants, tanks, reservoirs and cash in different currencies, which confirms the presence of illegal activity.
The facts of import of excisable goods, in particular methanol and solvents from the Russian Federation, are confirmed by investigation materials and responses from international law enforcement agencies, such as Europol.
After this, Marchenko and other defendants in the case were charged with suspicion under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for liability for intentional tax evasion on an especially large scale.
On July 12, 2024, the Kyiv District Court of Poltava chose preventive measures for the suspects in the form of bail. Investigative actions continue, as it is necessary to establish all the circumstances and connections that contributed to the offenses.
“Scheme for the supply of solvents from the aggressor country”
According to our sources, the logistics of the supply of solvents from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus through European countries to Ukraine as part of the criminal activities of Allur Oil LLC and Atlantic 2020 LLC looks something like this:
Goods, in particular solvents and alcohols, are transported from Russia and Belarus to the oil depot in the city of Daugavpils (Latvia) by rail, allowing for the transport of large volumes of products.
“To conceal the true origin of goods, fictitious companies were used, including Preterm sro, registered in Slovakia, and other companies in Latvia and the Czech Republic. Specifically, they are creating a documentary cover that allows them to disguise the Russian origin of the solvents. This is aimed at avoiding sanctions restrictions imposed on goods of Russian origin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” says our interlocutor.
According to him, the Belarusian company Arkadakhim, located in Minsk, also plays an important role in this criminal scheme.
“This company is part of the logistics chain, confirming interaction with Belarusian suppliers. Shipments are made through intermediaries such as LEKI TRAIDE COMPANY sro (Czech Republic) and SIA EURO ENERGO COMPANY (Latvia), which makes it possible to create the appearance of legal European origin of goods imported to Ukraine. All this indicates that even after the start of the war, enterprises under Marchenko’s control continued to import goods from Russia, hiding their real origin,” says the insider.
"Confirmation correspondence"
According to sources, another confirmation of Marchenko’s criminal activities in the company are intercepted conversations between the commercial director of Atlantic 2020 LLC and representatives of the Leki Trade company, as well as an unknown person with the nickname sfa sfa.
“In these conversations, details of the supply of diesel fuel and gasoline from Russia and the conditions for their transportation through European countries were discussed. For example, in July 2022, a representative of the Leki Trade company informed the commercial director of Atlantic 2020 LLC that he could offer to ship 125 tons of diesel fuel from Russia. A few days later, again the same representative of Leki Trade informs the commercial director of Atlantic 2020 LLC that 120 tons of gasoline are loaded in St. Petersburg and are planned to arrive in Daugavpils,” says the source of the publication.
And in December 2022, Ignatov, in the same group, informs Marchenko, representatives from Leki Trade, as well as a mysterious person with the nickname sfa sfa about the negotiations held with representatives of the state company to purchase 6,000 tons of methanol in 2023 with a schedule of 1,500 tons. in January, 3000 tons in February, 1500 tons in March.
“He proposed a scheme according to which methanol of “non-Russian” origin is transported to Trebusheva (Slovakia) by rail, where customs clearance and price formation are carried out, after which the goods are sent to Chop. He also especially noted the need for documents confirming that methanol does not originate from the aggressor country,” says our interlocutor.
Of course, all these schemes would be impossible without the so-called “protection” from political circles.
According to sources, it is the people’s deputy “For the Future” Yuri Shapovalov, using his corrupt connections, who ensures the functioning and cover of the illegal activities of the criminal organization headed by Vitaly Marchenko.
“Everyone has known about this for a long time, hand washes hand there. Shapovalov actively uses his connections, including with the mayor of Kremenchug, fellow party member Vitaly Maletsky, who is Marchenko’s godfather,” says a source from the people’s deputy’s inner circle.
According to him, this network of virtually “family” connections allows Marchenko’s enterprises, in particular the VM-Groupe group of companies, to provide advantages in public procurement for the supply of petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, for the needs of the public utility company “Improvement of Kremenchug”.
“During 2023-2024, more than 30 contracts were concluded between Azares LLC, owned by Marchenko, and the Kremenchug Improvement Utility Enterprise for a total amount of 15 million hryvnia. According to the terms of the tender, Azares LLC was to supply A-95 gasoline produced at the Kremenchug Oil Refinery and diesel fuel produced by Hellenic Petroleum (Greece). However, in fact, Azares supplied fuel of its own production, which did not meet the established standards in quality,” says the source.
Our interlocutor also notes that Marchenko and Shapovalov corresponded about petroleum products. During the correspondence, the people's deputy “consulted” Marchenko.
“It was Shapovalov who reassured him, saying that petroleum products that were produced from Russian oil outside the Russian Federation were excluded from EU sanctions,” says the interlocutor.
This indicates their awareness of the possibility of circumventing sanctions due to the use of schemes to legalize the supply of Russian oil, hiding its real origin.
Thus, corruption connections and political cover of Yuri Shapovalov ensured the unhindered implementation of illegal schemes. Thanks to this, they were able to avoid responsibility and continue to carry out the illegal business of supplying products from Russia even during the war.
