Which companies are the main taxpayers in Ukraine and how their situation changed during the hostilities.
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 dealt a severe blow to the Ukrainian economy, but many large companies and their owners were able to earn more than in the peaceful year of 2021.
The OpenDataBot online service has compiled a register of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine, although the data in it is partially outdated, for example, PJSC Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, which was in 3rd place, was actually destroyed during the occupation of Mariupol.
“Comments” looked into how companies that are on the list of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine feel and what changed for them during the war.
ATB-Market LLC Gennady Butkevich, Evgeny Ermakov and Victor Karachun
Grocery in particular, and retail in general in wartime, is perhaps the most profitable and stable business, because food will always be bought as an essential item. So, when Dnipropetrovsk businessmen created the first department stores in 1993, which later turned into the ATB-Market chain, they made the right decision with the start of the war with the Russian Federation.
To date, more than 1,000 department stores of the ATB network of Gennady Butkevich, Evgeniy Ermakov and Viktor Karachun have brought them income of 148.3 billion UAH. However, like Naftogaz, in addition to a decrease in income by 400 million hryvnia, there are also losses incurred as a result of the destruction of stores, their seizure by occupiers or closure, which in the spring of 2022 at ATB were estimated at billions of hryvnia.
At the same time, ATB itself today is a billion-dollar business, and in dollars. Before the war, its capitalization was estimated at $3-4 billion.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine – a state within a state
Today, NAC remains the largest and most profitable enterprise in Ukraine, although before the war it often gave way to, for example, ATB-Market. Naftogaz was helped by its monopoly position, and in 2022, a mass of nationalized assets were transferred to NAC, including Ukranfta, a number of regional gas companies of Dmitry Firtash, the Glusko gas station network, the Kremenchug oil refinery and others.
True, we must also take into account the enormous damage suffered by NAC, which, according to the company’s estimates, amounts to at least $1 billion, and the same Kremenchug oil refinery was destroyed by missile strikes.
However, at the end of 2022, Naftogaz gained UAH 169.9 billion, which is only 600 million less than in pre-war 2021.
According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, the market capitalization of NAC is more than 300 billion UAH or a little more than 8 billion dollars.
PJSC “Ilyich Iron and Steel Works” - Rinat Akhmetov
The Mariupol Iron and Steel Works named after Ilyich, which appears on the OpenDataBot list of largest taxpayers, has not been operating since the occupation of Mariupol by Russia in 2022. According to media reports, MMK itself was essentially handed over to the dictator of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, while the state of yesterday’s metallurgical giant is such that it will take years to restore it.
In 2022, MMK Ilyich managed to gain 25.8 billion UAH (against 146.4 billion UAH in 2021), and in December of the same 2022, a bankruptcy case was opened for the enterprise in the Zaporozhye region.
Kernel-trade LLC – Andrey Verevsky
Earning UAH 67.9 billion in 2022. The enterprise is the largest agricultural enterprise in Ukraine and has the largest land bank in Ukraine (363 thousand hectares). And the owner of this enterprise is ex-People’s Deputy Andrei Verevsky.
It is Kernel-Trade LLC that sells everything that Kernel Group grows on its lands, primarily sunflower with its processing into oil and export abroad. As a result, already in the 3rd quarter of 2023, Kernel’s business improved, and it received $69 million in net profit.
Judging by the latest data from European stock exchanges on which Kernel shares are listed, its value exceeds $2 billion.
SE “Guaranteed Buyer” - state
Another state monopolist in the energy sector of Ukraine, whose task is to buy “green electricity” and sell it to another state-owned enterprise, Ukrenergo. True, things are not going well for the enterprise, since it constantly owes tens of billions of hryvnia to the producers of that same “green” electricity.
However, formally the company earned UAH 54.3 billion in 2022, which is UAH 4.2 billion less than in 2021.
Silpo-Food LLC - Vladimir Kostelman
Another retailer, Vladimir Kostelman’s Fozzy Group company, which owns a chain of supermarkets with more than 300 stores (taking into account other brands, more than 500), is the main competitor of ATB-Market. The war year 2022 cost the company UAH 2.8 billion in revenue, which fell to UAH 70 billion.
Nevertheless, “Fozzy Group” is thinking about entering the Polish retail market, but obviously will not forget about the Ukrainian one, because trade during war is vital.
PJSC “Arcelor Mittal Krivoy Rog” - Lakshmi Nivas Mittal
The Krivoy Rog Metallurgical Plant, which since 2005 has belonged to the international metallurgical company Arcelor-Mittal, like the entire metallurgical industry of Ukraine, was seriously damaged during the war. Of course, unlike the destroyed metallurgical enterprises of Mariupol, the Krivoy Rog plant was not physically damaged, but revenue fell 2.5 times - from UAH 109.3 million to UAH 43.8 million.
According to the company, in 2022 they paid UAH 8.8 billion in taxes.
LLC “D. Trading” - Rinat Akhmetov
The largest private company in the energy market of Ukraine belongs to businessman Rinat Akhmetov and was able to increase its net income by more than 20 billion UAH in the war year 2022 - to 144.2 billion UAH. (in 2021 UAH 122.6 billion).
The company is 100% owned by the Dutch company D.TRADING BV, but in fact is controlled by the Donetsk Fuel and Energy Company of Rinat Akhmetov. Moreover, the increase in income occurred back in 2022, before the increase in the electricity tariff for the population to 2.64 UAH per 1 kWh.
This is facilitated, according to media reports, by non-transparent schemes in the electricity market, when the state-owned Energoatom sells its electricity to DTEK at a huge discount, which then sells it at the market price to industrial consumers.
LLC “GTS Operator of Ukraine” - state
Another state monopoly in the energy market is a company that transports gas through Ukrainian territory. Since the gas was Ukrainian, its volumes dropped significantly with the start of the war. At the same time, even after the invasion, transit did not stop completely, but this affected the company’s income.
Thus, in 2022, “GTS Operator” earned UAH 46 billion. (UAH 51 billion in 2021), but a decrease in the company’s profitability by only 10% is still a small price to pay not for a “gas” war, but for a real war.
NEC "Ukrenergo" - state
Like Energoatom, the state-owned Ukrenergo, which pumps electricity through main power grids, is a monopolist and therefore managed to increase its revenues for 2022 to UAH 82.3 billion. (UAH 71.1 billion in 2021)
True, this success is very doubtful. So, in addition to the transit of electricity, Ukrenergo must buy “green” electricity at an increased “green tariff” from the state “Guaranteed Buyer”. But in fact, Ukrenergo already owes 32 billion UAH for supplies, which threatens to make a huge hole in the company’s balance sheet, since we are talking about 40% of the enterprise’s income. And all this in the context of impending attacks by the invaders on critical infrastructure, which even the company itself has no doubt about.
In general, changes are noticeable in the register of large taxpayers in Ukraine - the role of the industries that suffered the greatest damage since the beginning of the war, primarily metallurgy, is decreasing, and the role of the state is growing.
