And about. Deputy head of the State Tax Service Evgeniy Sokur, using the guise of “digitalization,” shuts down enterprises until he receives compensation. With some I have already gone to the second and third round.
People's Deputy of Ukraine Daniil Getmantsev is a figure with whom entrepreneurs (especially small and medium-sized businesses) scare their children. It is with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy that any initiatives to change the rules of the game between the state and business, increasing the tax burden and expanding the possibilities of pressure from regulatory and law enforcement agencies on enterprises are associated. Getmantsev does not hide the fact that he is “resolving the issue” with the tax authorities, using the so-called “telephone law”.
Bill No. 11416 on increasing taxes and fees for business is currently being actively discussed in the media. Among the main initiatives are an increase in the rate of military tax on the income of individuals from 1.5% to 5%, the introduction of a military tax for individual entrepreneurs in the amount of 800 UAH per month, as well as the introduction of a military tax for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs of the 3rd group in the amount of 1% of income . Getmantsev is one of the main commentators and lobbyists of this bill, but advocates replacing the 1% turnover tax with an increase in VAT (and we will return to this point separately below).
And this increase occurs suddenly, urgently, explained only by the need to increase spending on the war, without any real attempts to improve the life of business, reducing corruption at customs, in the tax service and reducing the pressure of security forces on businesses. At the same time, Ukraine remains in the worst position in the ranking of “hellish tax legislation” (Tax Hells Index from The 1841 Foundation) – 4th place in 2023 after 5th place in 2022.
Why do geese cry?
Getmantsev is known for using the phrase “The art of collecting taxes lies in plucking a goose so that it doesn’t scream.” In 2024, Ukrainian businessmen began adding a continuation:
- But the goose is screaming!
- Oh, that’s because I fuck him...
And the last verb best describes what is happening between and. O. Deputy Chairman of the State Tax Service Evgeniy Sokur and Ukrainian business. In short, this official, who received the position as Getmantsev’s protégé (who was his assistant), instead of the declared digitalization of processes, included in a complete scheme of manually blocking the work of enterprises by canceling licenses. Business has known about this for a long time, but prefers to remain silent and transfer the specified “ransom” amount in an “envelope” in order to resume production. But there are those who speak openly about the existence of the scheme. For example, distilleries announced this scheme back in 2022.
“The deprivation of a license is not based on real violations, but on the simple inconsistency of the current legislation,” the Informator reported and gave the example of a distillery in the village of Krasnaya Sloboda in the Kiev region, which “has been operating since 1881, has survived the Tsar, Hitler, the Bolsheviks and the like. However, unfortunately, there is a risk of not surviving Sokur and Getmantsev.”
On February 20, signed by Sokur, the State Tax Service issued an order to cancel the license for the production of alcohol of Krasnoslobodsky Distillery LLC. The reason for this was that, according to the inspectors, an insufficient number of cameras were installed at the enterprise.
Then the problem was raised even at the level of the Verkhovna Rada. According to the head of the parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission for the Protection of Investors, Galina Yanchenko, the law and regulations do not indicate what a “technological cycle” is and what “production stages” at which video surveillance should be installed are being discussed.
In response to a journalist’s request, the State Tax Service reported that “each enterprise has an individual scheme for installing round-the-clock video surveillance systems for the production and sale of ethyl alcohol at excise warehouses on the territory of which ethyl alcohol is produced.” Journalists concluded that this uncertainty gives the tax authorities many reasons to cancel the license at any time.
“For example, tax officials will come to us tomorrow and say: why don’t you have cameras in your toilet? And what do we say to them? - noted at the Krasnoslobodsky Distillery.
In the end, the company in court managed to cancel the order of the State Tax Service to revoke the license, but it took more than a year. Due to similar actions by the tax authorities, Bershad Lux (Vinnytsia region), Kholminsky Distillery (Chernihiv region) and Mezhiritsky Vitamin Plant (Kirovograd region) also stopped that year.
“Nobody directly demanded a bribe from us. They hoped that we ourselves would understand what to do. We are sure that if we ourselves offered money to the tax authorities (we know that some of our colleagues do this), the license would be immediately returned to us. But we didn’t agree to this,” explain the alcohol producers.
At the Krasnoslobodsky Distillery they note that due to the actions of the tax authorities and Evgeniy Sokur personally, the state budget lost approximately UAH 500 million in excise tax due to the plant’s downtime. It is precisely the money that is so lacking in the budget, which is why Getmantsev considers it necessary to raise taxes.
“And do you think someone stopped the extortion by threatening to block the license? Of course not! Some people came to get it for the second time, and for others a third time,” says our interlocutor, who is involved in the alcohol production sector.
In addition to distilleries, PJSC Ukrtatnafta also appealed the tax authorities’ actions to revoke the license in court. In addition, criminal proceedings were initiated against Sokur in connection with obstructing the mobilization tasks of the Ministry of Defense for the production and supply of fuel for the needs of the army.
The case was opened under Part 3 of Art. 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – for abuse of official powers. Sokur issued two identical orders dated October 26, 2022, by which PJSC Ukrtatnafta was deprived of its license. The documents had an identical number and date, but the grounds for revocation of the license were different. One is the company’s refusal, allegedly without legal grounds, to allow tax officials to conduct an audit. In the second - failure to pay the next license payment within 30 days from the date of license suspension.
Sokur is only Getmantsev’s “filler”
The Cabinet of Ministers appointed Yevgeny Sokur as acting Deputy Head of the State Tax Service in May 2022, but since then you will not find information about him on the official tax website. There isn't even a photo in the "Manual" section.
The appointment of Sokur is a case when a person without relevant experience, but with the status of Getmantsev’s former assistant, found himself in a responsible position. In 2023, a year after Sokur’s appointment, Getmantsev said that “there were no applicants for this position,” but even then he could not explain what Sokur does at the State Tax Service and what his functional responsibilities are.
Sokur came to power the same way that Hetmans once overcame - from an assistant to a people's deputy to a high appointee. Only Getmantsev was an assistant to People’s Deputy Vladimir Sivkovich, who was suspected of high treason in July 2022 by the SBI. Getmantsev also worked for Sivkovich’s company and provided legal support to the business.
After his appointment, Sokur immediately got into a scandal with the mass blocking of tax invoices manually, which could be gotten rid of for 1% of the total amount indicated on them. The scandal erupted after the State Bureau of Investigation caught two tax chiefs of the Kirovograd region red-handed taking a bribe, and during a search at their place of residence, millions more hryvnias of “black cash” were found. According to Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, 47.7% of enterprises faced the problem of blocking tax invoices.
“Evgeniy Sokur is responsible for blocking invoices throughout the country. Acting Deputy Chairman of the State Tax Service. Officially, he also oversees the excise collection, business fines - that is, all the most scandalous areas,” says the plot of the “Penny” project.
To cover up the openly corrupt reason for the appointment, Getmantsev and Sokur launched a PR campaign in which they portrayed the latter as a young reformer promoting digitalization of the tax office (while maintaining the practice of manual management). Thus, Getmantsev’s minion promised to “strike corruption with digitalization” - to launch an electronic system that will supposedly break all existing schemes. But it remained a promise without deadlines, responsibilities and contractors.
One of the most prominent examples of Sokur's whitewashing was the August 2023 story of an allegedly planned and foiled attack on him. It is noteworthy that the first to notify about it was not the police, not the tax office, but Getmantsev personally. Allegedly, the attackers were trying to “revenge” Sokur for the “loss of business.” The “suspects” were even detained, but this case did not end in anything - despite its disclosure “hot on the heels”.
At the same time, Getmantsev is trying to distance himself from Sokur. They last appeared together publicly at an economic forum in June 2023.
Master 7%. Sokur’s most important task for Getmantsev is protecting VAT schemes
Despite the scandalousness of the above-mentioned schemes for blocking tax invoices and the direct blocking of the work of enterprises due to the cancellation of licenses, the most profitable “business” in the Getmantsev-Sokur pair is the schemes around the value added tax (VAT). In this case, it is worth mentioning Getmantsev’s interest in replacing the 1% tax on the turnover of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs of the 3rd group with an increase in VAT in the new bill (and the volume of the increase is still the subject of agreements). The higher the VAT rate in Ukraine, the more people like Getmantsev, who are involved in regulating these processes, will be able to earn from the schemes.
The biggest “earnings” come from VAT refunds, which completely depend on decisions made manually by tax officials. Getmantsev’s direct connection with these schemes can be traced not only through Sokur, but also through the former head of the Kiev tax office, Oksana Datii, whom Getmantsev defended even after the SBI exposed her for illegal enrichment worth at least $1.4 million. It was her wish list that Ukrainians mocked in February 2023 - a million dollars, a sable fur coat, expensive Breguet watches, a vacation in the Maldives and a high position in the tax office.
According to the SBI, Datiya, for money, made a decision on non-compliance with taxpayer risk criteria for a number of enterprises, which brought more than 15 billion hryvnia into the shadows, and in another episode she was involved in illegal VAT refunds, as a result of which more than 30 billion hryvnia fell into shadow circulation.
And Getmantsev defended Datiya, saying that there was no need to reboot the tax administration.
“Everyone knows that it is no secret that Mr. Getmantsev also appointed the current head of the tax service. And he has excellent contact with this detained Mrs. Datius. This is not a secret,” said Censor.NET editor Yuri Butusov, noting that the episode with Datius is just the tip of the iceberg.
“Removing a business from the risky list costs 3-4 thousand dollars. Accelerated refund of white VAT costs 10%, and black one about 30%. The entire system was built in such a way that the entrepreneur was forced to ask the tax authorities for something. This is the whole economic logic of corruption,” explained Andriy Dligach, head of the Council of the Coalition of Business Communities for the Modernization of Ukraine.
Businessmen from different fields confirm the prices cited by Dligach, and also independently say that 7% of working VAT refund schemes goes directly to Getmantsev. That’s why Getmantsev is interested in preserving the existing network of “his” tax managers, over whom stands his minion Sokur.
“Either put on your panties, or take off your cross”
Scheme with acting tax officials, including Evgeniy Sokur in the top management, allows Getmantsev to control financial flows and schemes. The demands of business to remove Getmantsev or Sokur from their positions, despite all the scandals, remain ignored by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Office of the President and the leadership of parliament. Sokur in status and. O. has been working for more than two years and what achievements can he boast of in his position? Dozens of closed enterprises and billions that the Ukrainian budget lost during the war?
At the same time, Getmantsev is lobbying for an increase in the tax burden on businesses and citizens, which will immediately affect the level of prices for goods and services, gaining more opportunities for VAT refund schemes, which Sokur will continue to cover up, putting pressure on enterprises and businessmen who decide not to remain silent. On the one hand, there are fairy tales about the interests of the state, and on the other, black schemes, kickbacks, business closures, and loss of taxes. As in the old joke, when law enforcement officers during a raid found a priest with girls of easy virtue in the sauna and the opera said: “Dear, either put on your panties, or take off your cross.”
And as long as Sokur remains in the leadership of the tax service, no “cosmetic” reforms and changes will cover up the corrupt essence of the existing system.
There is another interesting point in this story - does President Zelensky know about all these illegal and fraudulent frauds, primarily with VAT, by Getmantsev and Sokur? If not, then what and, most importantly, where will these skilled goose pluckers end up doing their business?!
