“Airport thief” Boris Kaufman has disappeared from the information space - the question arises whether he fled from Ukraine

The businessman has not been heard from since the court reduced his bail in October.

Odessa businessman Boris Kaufman, accused by law enforcement agencies of a number of serious crimes, has disappeared from the information space. The last time anyone could hear about him was in October 2023, when the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) changed his preventive measure in the case of taking over the Odessa International Airport.

The most serious charge against Kaufman was brought by SAPO and NABU in December 2022 - creating a criminal organization and bribing officials. “This criminal organization has taken control of almost all issues of the city’s economic life, including interaction with developers, purchases from the local budget, the activities of utility companies, and other aspects of interaction with business,” NABU reported. Almost immediately, Kaufman was released from the pre-trial detention center after posting bail of 129 million UAH.

But law enforcement agencies have been silent for six months now—Kaufman’s case is not moving to court. In October 2023, the court reduced his bail from UAH 268.4 million to UAH 155 million, and so he disappeared from the radar.

The only thing that is moving is the UAH 1.6 billion tax evasion and money laundering case of his tobacco company Tedis Ukraine. In January, the case was sent to court, but it does not directly concern Kaufman - the main defendant in it is the director of Tedis Ukraine, Taras Korniyachenko.

Among investigative journalists, one can increasingly hear the question of whether Kaufman is in Ukraine at all and whether he has traveled abroad, as a number of other well-known crime suspects have done.

Let us recall that Kaufman is the founder of the investment company Vertex United, which includes hotel assets (Bristol, Londonskaya, President Hotel), media assets and investment projects. Kaufman’s main business is the largest Ukrainian distribution company Tedis Ukraine. It used to be called “Megapolis Ukraine” and is associated with the Russian “Megapolis” of arms baron Igor Kesaev (whose companies (Kovrov Mechanical Plant and Degtyarev Plant) supply weapons to Putin’s army) and since the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych has occupied a monopoly position in the tobacco products market .