Separatism and banking success: Evgeniy Kazmin and his 'KomInBank' in Ukraine

“To whom is war, and to whom is mother” - this expression most accurately describes the life of businessman Evgeny Kazmin. A native of Luhansk region never hid his pro-Russian views. The criminal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia’s invasion of his native Luhansk and Donetsk regions, did not in any way change the businessman’s attitude towards the aggressor state.

Kazmin is an ideological fan of the “Russian world”. Even after the start of a full-scale war on February 24, 2022, he did not change his opinion. The entrepreneur disappeared from the radar. It is not known whether he is waiting for the arrival of “his own”, or is worried that law enforcement officers will again have questions about his pro-Russian views. Despite the fact that Kazmin is potentially a dangerous figure for the state, this does not affect his business. He continues to receive funds from the state budget as support for the Commercial Industrial Bank, and also to develop his companies, which are more like fly-by-night companies.

Business with a taste of separatism

The war put everything in its place - those who in their souls were rooting for the “Russian world” demonstrated themselves to the fullest. Many public figures, in particular politicians and businessmen, managed to change their colors in time, but society remembers everything.

Kazmin’s situation was somewhat different - back in 2016, a pre-trial investigation was launched against him under Part 3 of Art. 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Financing of actions committed with the aim of violently changing or overthrowing the constitutional order or seizing state power, changing the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine”).

The investigators' questions to the businessman were extremely serious. As law enforcement officers established, Kazmin personally supervised the construction of housing on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. The key thing is that this housing was not intended for ordinary Crimeans, but for representatives of the occupation structures - the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the FSB. Thus, he supported the legalization of the aggressor in the occupied part of Ukraine.

Immediately after the annexation, Kazmin, without hesitation, re-registered his business under Russian law. Moreover, we are not talking about one company, but about 7 different legal entities at once. He earned money for their operation in Ukraine and then transferred them through offshore companies to Russia. The criminal business existed for 2 years, but Kazmin’s luck ran out - in August 2016 he was detained. But then the real circus began.

In court, Kazmin said that before the suspicion was handed over to him, he allegedly told the investigation that he had committed a crime, repented and was ready to admit his guilt in court. In turn, the prosecutor's office did not object to the release of the traitor from criminal liability. The court, after hearing the arguments of the parties, decided to close the proceedings, releasing Kazmin from liability.

But here there was an unexpected turn in the situation: the General Prosecutor’s Office suddenly “saw the light” by filing an appeal against the court’s decision, but the Kiev Court of Appeal rejected the investigation, citing the fact that all the information about Kazmin’s release from liability was known to government officials, and it was they guilty of releasing the entrepreneur from criminal liability.

But this “strange” criminal epic did not end there. Everyone forgot that Kazmin’s property was seized. Only 2 months later, the court decided to lift restrictions on 6 elite cars of the entrepreneur, including 5 valuable Mercedes-Benz and 1 Audi A8L. The total cost of the entrepreneur's vehicle fleet is about 1 million US dollars.

Despite the fact that Kazmin is not a very poor person, he does not have any official profitable businesses. As of now, according to Ukrainian legislation, only 2 enterprises are registered in his name; in another he works as a manager. Those companies in which Kazmin is the owner obviously do not function, because they were founded in the early 2000s in Sevastopol. Their authorized capital is only 400 UAH, but this did not stop the business from appearing in several high-profile criminal stories.

The private enterprise “KVVMPU” appeared in criminal proceedings. Charges were brought against Kazmin's business of fictitious business activities, large-scale tax evasion and forgery of documents. Information about this is contained in criminal proceedings under No. 12012000000000001. But in this case, as in the story of the financing of terrorism, there is no logical ending - the investigation continues, but, given the statute of limitations, the case will be closed.

“KVVMPU” Kazmina has such a rich criminal background that information about the crimes of company officials can be found back in the late 2000s. Oddly enough, all the proceedings that relate to the activities of the businessman’s enterprise remained undisclosed.

Hide everything

Previously, Evgeny Kazmin was the owner of a large trust company “Closed non-diversified venture corporate investment fund “FEU FINANCE” (abbreviated name – “ZNVKIF “FEU FINANCE”).

After being prosecuted for the financing of terrorism, Kazmin realized that sooner or later he would be able to be “caught down.” Therefore, the financial company that previously belonged to him suddenly changed its owner. The founder of the business was Valeria Evgenievna Kazmina (the daughter of an entrepreneur), she is also the head of the enterprise.

Despite the fact that FEU FINANCE looks like a fairly solid corporation, its financial statements raise many questions. According to official data, the company's authorized capital is 10 million hryvnia. Last year the profit was 30.5 million, but the company did not declare any income. This is nonsense, because there can be no profit without income, so everything goes to the conclusion that FEU FINANCE, like other Kazmin enterprises, deliberately manipulate financial statements to evade taxes.

“FEU FINANCE” is the founder of the company “FEU DEVELOPMENT”. Despite its name and main activity, the company does something completely different. In 2019, the police uncovered a conversion center that operated under the guise of several companies, and its center was the Commercial Investment Bank (KomInBank), which, through nominal owners, belongs to Kazmin.

The investigation established that in order to implement the criminal scheme, Kazmin’s subordinates found citizens who, for small funds, agreed to become nominal managers of the companies through which the cashing was carried out. According to data from the court registry, one of the men was promised to “close” a debt in PrivatBank in the amount of 15 thousand hryvnia, but they “threw him away” here too. At the trial, he said that he was paid 13 thousand hryvnia in a lump sum; he did not see any more money.

In general, the following scheme was in effect: dozens of fictitious companies bought hundreds of thousands of tons of scrap metal, understating its value, then the same metal was sold at the market price. Over the past 2 years, the activities of organized crime groups have acquired unprecedented proportions.

The amount of damage that Kazmin and his accomplices inflicted on the state amounted to more than 367 million hryvnia (at the then exchange rate ~ 14 million US dollars). But you will not be surprised if we say that no one answered for this crime either - the case was “lost” in the bureaucracy.

The KVV corporation played a key role in the illegal business. KVV GROUP LLC never officially belonged to Evgeniy Kazmin, but, as evidenced by the materials of criminal proceedings, he always worked at the company as an executive director. It was from the KVV office on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard in Kyiv that Kazmin gave orders to build apartment buildings in Crimea for representatives of the Russian special services (the original recordings of conversations are contained in the materials of criminal proceedings on the financing of terrorism).

Until 2021, the owner and founder of the industrial group was Elena Kazmina (we suspect that this is Evgeniy’s wife). In addition to a large company that deals with waste recycling, Elena has another business... as a sole proprietor, she provides services to hairdressers and beauty salons. It turns out that she is a jack of all trades: she can paint her nails and manage a large industrial enterprise.

Pocket Bank

In general, an interesting story has developed regarding the “Commercial Industrial Bank”. Officially, Kazmin received permission to acquire 100% of the bank’s shares in November 2015 (just at that moment a pre-trial investigation into the case of financing terrorism began against him). However, realizing that the matter smelled of frying, Kazmin tried to hide his relationship to the financial institution, despite the fact that at that time he held the position of chairman of the supervisory board of KIB.

In April 2016, the National Bank recognized him as the owner of a significant participation, regardless of formal ownership, which gave the green light to arrest the financial institution. 4 months later, in August 2016, Kazmin was detained, but only 3 months passed, and suddenly the bank had a new owner - the British Stepan Paul Pinter. According to the NBU, he owns almost 95% of the bank's shares.

Strangely, the situation remained unchanged: the bank continued to launder funds from the KVV holding, which was actually controlled by Kazmin. This is reflected not only in criminal proceedings, but also in NBU penalties. The most recent example: in August 2022, the Regulator imposed a penalty on “CIB” in the amount of 7 million hryvnia for “the bank’s failure to properly organize an internal bank system for preventing, countering and conducting primary financial monitoring.” In February 2022, KominBank was noticed in an identical situation, but then a symbolic fine was imposed on the financial institution - only 200 thousand hryvnia.

But recently “KIB” has surpassed itself. It turns out that the bank participated in a scheme to steal funds from the state-owned Ukrgasbank. The investigation found that between 2014 and 2019, 15 officials of the financial institution withdrew 206 million hryvnia from the bank. The key suspect is the former head of the board of Ukrgasbank (also the former head of the NBU) Kirill Shevchenko. Most of the defendants fled the country, but there are also those whom the investigation detained.

The names of the people who were arrested are not reported, but this is not the main thing. In March 2022, one of the members of the criminal group of bankers was given a preventive measure in the form of detention with an alternative - bail in the amount of UAH 6,441,600. Subsequently, the official authorities did not report on the progress of the case, however, as it became known from the court registry, the person involved in the proceedings for misappropriation of funds on an especially large scale was released from the pre-trial detention center. KominBank posted bail for him.

Last week, a financial institution controlled by Kazmin decided that these funds still need to be returned. Therefore, they went to court with a demand for the return of the deposit for the suspect in the theft of Ukrgasbank funds, but the High Anti-Corruption Court refused to satisfy the petition.

The result is a strange situation. Kazmin, who was found guilty of financing the Russian special services, not only remains quietly at large, but also manages multimillion-dollar businesses through fictitious persons and releases corrupt officials from custody.

Meanwhile, the 19th month of the war begins...