Billion dollar smuggling under the guise of the confectionery business: how much money does Gennady Vatsak buy himself a Rolls-Royce and Bentley for?

This set of cars would not be out of place at the Geneva Motor Show. But in fact, this collection is in the garage of the People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Vinnitsa region Gennady Vatsak

Gennady Vatsak is the owner of the “Vatsak Confectionery House” and runs a construction business in the Vinnytsia region, in particular, in his hometown of Mogilev-Podolsk. His biography has very large gaps, so it is not too easy to understand how he was able to earn start-up capital to open a confectionery business. It is known that Vatsak graduated from medical college, but has no higher education. In the 90s he worked as a paramedic and waiter. And in 2001, he unexpectedly became a major businessman and created the Vatsak Confectionery House.

Not everything is simple with the confectionery business either. According to the register data, the Vatsak CD was registered only in 2019, although the company’s website notes that it was created in 2001. That is, it is not possible to study what happened to the company’s financial flows over a period of 18 years.

Mogilev-Podolsky is a town on the very border with Moldova. In the first days of the war, those Ukrainians who tried to leave Ukraine through the Moldovan border could see that he did not stand out in any way. But its value lies precisely in its inconspicuousness and rather specific attitude of border guards towards checks when crossing the border.

Our journalist saw hundreds of military-age men crossing the border in Mogilev-Podilskyi in the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The asking price then ranged from 200 to 500 dollars, and there were a dime a dozen people interested.

The situation at this border with smuggling flows is approximately the same. In December 2023, law enforcement officers seized more than 20 tons of counterfeit alcohol, packaging containers, almost 330 thousand UAH in various currencies, walkie-talkies, signal jamming equipment, cars and trucks, “rough” records, etc. The total value of the seized items is UAH 5 million. Finished products were sold through post offices, delivery in their own cars, and even through online stores.

And this is just one of the latest news. From others you can learn about the illegal “alcohol pipeline” laid on the border between Ukraine and Moldova. And about the constant flow of illegal supplies of tobacco products. And about how, under the cover of volunteer jobs, young men drive Bentleys and Lamborghinis across the border in Mogilev-Podolsk.

The last example concerns the mentioned MP Gennady Vatsak. According to the Ukrayinska Pravda publication, his sons Stanislav and Vladislav, born in 2002 and 1995, have been traveling abroad through the Shlyakh volunteer system since the beginning of the war in a Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus.

Both of these cars are present in the latest declaration of the deputy Vatsak. It also lists a Maserati Quattroporte, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, several Land Rovers and a BMW X7. The Rolls-Royce Cullinan was purchased in the spring of 2023 and registered to the MP’s company “Vatsak Confectionery House”. Its cost is $700,000.

But what is not in the declaration of MP Gennady Vatsak is another Rolls-Royce. The Ghost model sedan was also purchased by the People’s Deputy’s company a few weeks before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The TopZhir publication published a photo of this car, made in black and caramel colors.

“The cost of the English luxury car Ghost reaches half a million dollars. The latest generation Rolls-Royce Ghost is equipped with a 12-cylinder petrol engine producing 570 horsepower. Top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h, and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h is 4.8 seconds. Fuel consumption? Well, yes, for pure neighing (it’s unlikely that this really bothers Rolls owners) - about 30 liters per 100 km,” write journalists from a specialized publication.

On all his cars, Vatsak uses the same numbers in the license plates 0001. It was with this combination of numbers that the Aston Martin Superleggera was spotted in Mogilev-Podolsky, where there are not even normal roads. The cost of this most powerful and fastest model is about 300 thousand dollars. This car was never included in the declarations of MP Gennady Vatsak.

Vatsak records the most luxurious cars in his collection as the property of his confectionery company. After all, in fact, according to his financial statements, he could not afford even one such car. His income in 2023 amounted to 642 thousand hryvnia, his wife Victoria - 5 million 514 thousand hryvnia. Vatsak has cash in the amount of 480,000 hryvnia, his wife - 2 million 150 thousand hryvnia. Funds in bank accounts amount to several hundred thousand.

So, if we take as a basis the price of Vatsak’s last Rolls-Royce of $700,000, this is equivalent to almost 26 million hryvnia. If you add up all the savings of the Vatsak family, they would not be enough for even half of such a car. Not to mention the fact that the MP has several luxury cars.

But it seems that the public outcry regarding the inappropriateness of buying the most expensive cars in the world during the war in Ukraine had no influence on Gennady Vatsak. Indeed, in January 2024, his company “Vatsak Confectionery House” purchased a 2021 Infiniti QX80. According to specialized publications, depending on the configuration, the cost of this car can range from 70 to 90 thousand dollars.

Gaps in the early biography of MP Gennady Vatsak raise many questions. In particular, the press has repeatedly suggested that he, together with his comrade, the former long-term mayor of Mogilev-Podolsk Petro Brovko, could be behind the flow of illegal products across the border with Moldova. In recent decades, the neighboring country has been considered almost an international smuggling hub, along with the unrecognized Transnistria. For businessmen from Mogilev-Podolsk, this opens up extraordinary opportunities. This is especially true for the illegal supply of alcohol, which flows like a river along the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

Gennady Vatsak cannot be called a poor man, especially since his enterprise has shown growth in recent years, despite the war. However, if you compare the cost of his vehicle fleet, not to mention the number of land plots, with his official income, then the opinion creeps in that the money “drips” not only from official sources.