Who is behind Sergei Shapran, who has taken over sand mining in the Kyiv region?

Sergey Shapran gained control over the sanctioned company Budindustriya-Service LTD, which mines sand in the Kyiv region. Thus, Shapran removed the company from the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council and became a de facto monopolist in sand production.

Until mid-2022, Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC belonged to Igor Naumets, a citizen of the Russian Federation, who fled to Russia after the outbreak of a full-scale war. All of his assets, including Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC and the Unigran company, which was engaged in mining in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions, were arrested. After two years, it turned out that companies involved in the development of mineral resources came under the control of Sergei Shapran, a former deputy of the Brovary city council from the party “For Maybutne!” and the owner of the Brovary aluminum plant.

In this regard, it should be noted that, despite the criminal cases against Igor Naumts and the arrests imposed on his assets, no one revoked the special permits for mining, and Naumts’ companies continued their extraction. Moreover, Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC, which extracts sand in the Desna riverbed (Spasskoye deposit), received permission in 2023 to expand the extraction site until 2029.

Due to the expansion of the Spassky field, the State Geonedra canceled the auction for the sale of the neighboring Yuzhno-Litkinsky site in December 2023, which resulted in the loss of several hundred million hryvnia to the budget of the warring country. Which, naturally, ended up in the pocket of the owner of the special permit for sand extraction - Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC.

At that time, Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC was already controlled by Sergey Shapran, although the formal owner was still Vladimir Naumets, who withdrew from the list of beneficiaries on April 2, 2024. Igor Naumets left the list of beneficiaries on November 14, 2022, transferring his ownership rights to Vladimir Naumets. Now the structure of owners of Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC is as follows:

The Denmark Foundation, which is listed among the co-owners, also belongs to Sergei Shapran.

In addition, Sergey Shapran established control over the companies Uni Service LLC, Uni Lux LLC, Uni Stone Plant LLC. The ownership structure here is identical to the ownership structure in Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC: 90% of the shares in these companies belong to Shapran personally, 10% through JSC ZNIKIF Denmark.

These companies replaced Unigran LLC, owned by Igor Naumets and mining granite and crushed stone in the Zhytomyr region. After Naumets came under sanctions, Unigran LLC was re-registered as British citizen Elena Kalpa, and granite mining continued. In 2022, Sergey Shapran, accompanied by armed men, appeared at the office of Unigran LLC and stated that all issues were now being resolved through him, and he was the new owner. This story is described in detail in the material “Yak Sergiy Shapran has seen the sanctioned assets of the Russian oligarch Igor Naumts”, but its essence boils down to the fact that Sergey Shapran is now the actual owner of all the assets of Igor Naumts involved in the development of the subsoil of the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions.

It is not known for certain under what exact conditions Shapran took control of Naumts’s company. According to rumors, at first there was an agreement between them that Sergei Shapran would remove Igor Naumets’ business from sanctions and receive 50% for it. Whether this agreement actually took place is unknown, but in fact the situation now is that Igor Naumets’ companies are controlled by Sergei Shapran and not only continue to operate, but are also expanding their volumes.

In this regard, the public appeal of Mikhail Brodsky to the President of Ukraine entitled “Business looting is destroying the country” attracts attention. In it, Brodsky, in particular, talks about Sergei Shapran, comparing the methods by which he takes control of someone else’s business with the times of Kuchma and “Kravchenko’s eagles”:

It turns out that Mikhail Brodsky received threats from “businessmen in uniform” after his business interests intersected with the interests of Sergei Shapran in the sand mining market. These threats came not only to Brodsky, but also to other entrepreneurs, and they were of a very specific nature and were supported by massive criminal cases against the “unintelligible.”

Of course, the words of Mikhail Brodsky cannot be trusted, but several factors should be taken into account. In addition to the fact that Igor Naumts’s companies and his mining business actually came under the control of Sergei Shapran, the price of the issue is noteworthy. Formally, Sergey Shapran closed the deal to purchase Budindustriya-Service LTD LLC, paying the previous nominal value of UAH 9,587,500. At the same time, Igor Naumets’ assets are estimated at at least $100 million. Thus, a logical assumption arises that Sergei Shapran, with the help of the security forces and under the cover of someone from the highest echelons of power, is simply seizing a huge asset for pennies. The fact that Igor Naumets is under sanctions only aggravates the problem - his assets worth $100 million, instead of becoming the property of the state, go into the wrong hands.

The person of Sergei Shapran also raises questions. This, as already mentioned, is the owner of the Brovary Aluminum Plant, the owner of the Alumeta Group holding and the former head of the “For Maybutne!” faction. in the Brovary City Council. Sergei Shapran is involved in many scandals related to raiding, non-payment of taxes, cheating of investors who bought apartments in the building in which Shapran was involved in the construction, and many other unpleasant things.

According to state registers, Sergei Shapran is the owner of more than twenty different enterprises. But this is now. But the story of his development as a major businessman is shrouded in darkness and raises many questions. Sergei Shapran appeared in Brovary almost out of nowhere and almost immediately became the head of the Brovary Aluminum Plant. This happened somewhere in 2008-2009. What is interesting in this regard is that the plant, shortly before the appearance of Sergei Shapran in its director’s chair, declared bankruptcy; it was bought as a bankrupt at its residual value by Industrial Property Investments, owned by the British Worldwide Industrial Properties and Ukrainian citizen Svetlana Nikolaevna Kostyuk (Lopukh). Which, apparently, was a common figurehead for Leonid Chernovetsky’s entourage - Svetlana Kostyuk headed Legal Firm “Pravozakhist” LLC, owned by Suprunenko Alexander Ivanovich and Suprunenko Vyacheslav Ivanovich. The younger one, Vyacheslav Ivanovich, is a three-time deputy of the Kyiv City Council, Chernovetsky’s former son-in-law. The eldest, Alexander, was a people's deputy of Ukraine in those days.

It was then that Sergei Shapran emerged, who became an oligarch a few years later. Whether he is actually an oligarch or serves as a figurehead for someone else is an open question. Because Sergei Shapran was truly a beggar just ten years ago. At least, this is what his declaration says, which he submitted while running for people's deputies of Ukraine as a self-nominated candidate in the 97th constituency.

Shapran did not become a deputy, but after that his ascent to the top of business began. Within a few years, Sergei Shapran’s financial situation changed dramatically - he became the owner of “factories and ships.” And in the literal sense - Shapran bought the ultramarine-colored Princess Victoria yacht, 20 meters long, which turned out to be the largest in the Dnieper waters, and its cost exceeded two million dollars.

At the same time, Sergei Shapran grew into a business. But questions still remained - the fact is that until 2018, Sergey Shapran remained the head of First Ukrainian International Trust Capital LLC (EDRPOU code 35135332).

And he appeared in court cases regarding the issuance of fake income certificates by this company to citizens taking out loans:

In this regard, a logical question arises: how does the trade in fake certificates relate to the official activities of Sergei Shapran as a billionaire? On the one hand - billions, yachts, factories, ships; on the other hand, a piece of paper for a couple of hundred hryvnia. There is a clear discrepancy. It was only eight years later that former toastmasters and the unemployed suddenly became the “elite of the nation.” And then a petty swindler remained a petty swindler, there were no exceptions.

What it was is unclear. But this story raises questions in connection with the current status of Sergei Shapran, who, as the registers say, is an oligarch, the owner of huge assets and a person who removes other people’s businesses from the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council. In addition, as Mikhail Brodsky writes, this man has influence on the country’s law enforcement agencies at the highest level, and very serious people perceive his threats quite realistically. The whole combination of these factors gives rise to a logical question: who is behind Sergei Shapran and in whose interests is he working?