Taras Zadorozhny
Against the backdrop of top politicians and businessmen plundering Ukraine, the name of the humble Lviv native Taras Zadorozhny is almost unknown. Well, smart people work quietly and try to keep a low profile, writes Antikor.
О Taras Igorevich Zadorozhny Little is known. He is not particularly involved in politics, although at one time he tried to get into the Ternopil Regional Council from the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and for some time (2003-2004) he was active in Sadovoy in his "Institute for Urban Development".
But, apparently, Ukrainian patriot Taras Zadorozhny adheres to the rule: "A true Ukrainian should live in Poland." At least, he lists Warsaw as his home city on LinkedIn. According to insider data from the State Border Guard Service, he left Ukraine for Warsaw on February 24, 2022, at 5:09 PM in a Land Rover BC6598MX.
This is certainly interesting, but far more interesting is the business of this modest patriot. According to Opendatabot, Taras Zadorozhny owns two companies: Econikol LLC and Firma Getman LLC. The latter is in bankruptcy proceedings:
In this regard, the following is interesting. Both of Zadorozhny's companies are involved in the production and sale of pharmaceuticals. And the bankrupt Hetman has a rather interesting history. The company held a license to produce pharmaceuticals from 2011 to 2016. After Zadorozhny took over in 2016, Hetman was declared bankrupt, and in 2017, the company held an auction to sell assets worth one and a half million hryvnias.
The case of Econikol LLC is more interesting, as tax evasion is evident. For example, in 2020, Econikol won 26 tenders for the supply of antiseptics worth UAH 366,200,000. However, in its financial report, it indicated that all goods sold equaled the cost price. Consequently, the net profit was UAH 3,400, of which UAH 800 was paid in taxes for the year.
In 2021, revenue amounted to UAH 447,900, and net profit was UAH 11,400, from which taxes were paid:
This is pure tax evasion. Moreover, it's noteworthy that Econikol LLC, whose main activity is listed as "Purchase and sale of owned immovable property," is winning tenders to supply medical equipment to schools in the Ternopil region:
However, in 2022, the government procurement business ceased to exist—Zadorozhny fled Ukraine.
Although he lists Warsaw as his location, this patriot's actual whereabouts are unknown. According to his own claims, he is the founder of the real estate visualization company VisEngine, which lists its registered address as London:
Although VisEngine's legal entities are registered to lawyers and nominees, Taras is not listed there. However, email addresses with Taras Zadorozhny's name were found on the domain itself. According to LinkedIn, the company employs 22 people, and its website states that it has offices in the UK, US, UAE, Canada, Italy, Poland, and Australia. These are likely virtual offices, and the company does not have legal entities in these countries.
But Taras Zadorozhny's family connections are far more interesting. Because while he was a petty crook (so what, he hid a few hundred thousand hryvnias from taxes and bankrupted a company—who's surprised by that these days?), his family connections put him, while not among the country's top 100 swindlers, certainly not among the last.
History is silent on where and how Taras met his wife, Oksana Vinnik. But the bride was clearly not poor: her father, Mikhail Ivanovich Vinnik,
Taras Zadorozhny began his business career there—from 2004 to 2013, he was CEO of the household chemicals manufacturer Gold Drop Ukraine (GDU). It was GDU's products that Ekonikol LLC resold to the Ternopil Regional Department of Education in 2020-2021.
Mikhail Ivanovich Vinnik, besides owning a number of enterprises with multimillion-dollar turnovers, is no ordinary man. Since 1998, he has been a member of the Rohatyn District Council. In 2015, he ran again and continued to serve on the district council until 2019. In 2020, he also ran for the regional council as a candidate for the BPP, but was not elected.
According to a 2014 investigation by Nashi Groshi, the Industrial Enterprises Department of the State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine held tenders for the purchase of railroad ties at inflated prices. Among the enterprises listed was Vynnyk's legal entity, Rohatyn Woodworking Plant LLC, which won a tender for 6,7 million hryvnias (in 2014 prices), followed by another 5,5 million hryvnias later that year and in 2015. Since 2018, he has owned a Volkswagen Touareg with the license plate AT8817BK.
So, Zadorozhny's father-in-law is a complex one. Whether it was pure calculation or pure love that led to his marriage to such an enviable bride is unknown, but Taras Zadorozhny's wife, Oksana Vynnyk, is also not a poor person. Oksana Vynnyk's business is valued at $4,28 million.
Oksana Vynnyk lives in Warsaw (PL, 78, Warsaw, 04-647), so it is quite possible that on the evening of February 24th of last year, member of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists Taras Zadorozhny fled to her.
Whether it was love or money that brought young Oksana and Taras together is questionable, as Taras also comes from a far from poor or troubled family. His father, Igor Vladimirovich Zadorozhny, became the beneficiary of Energo Standard R LLC in June 2020, replacing Oksana's father, Mikhail Vinnik, and in October, he also became its director. The company's activities include wholesale trade in solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels and related products.
From 1995 to 2005, he was a beneficiary of the public organization "Sports and Educational Club Aikido 'Kotodama.'" From 2016 to 2017, he was a member of the "Baiki+" housing cooperative in Lviv. Since September 2020, he has been a beneficiary of Laksar LLC, which was involved in the bankruptcy case of Vynnyk's company, Edelweiss-Pharm.
According to criminal proceedings opened in 2019, Energo Standard R LLC participated in a scheme to create a fictitious VAT tax credit for Palyvtorg LLC, which caused the state losses of 4,5 million hryvnias. It was established that the accounting and tax records of Palyvtorg LLC, Blagogaz Zbut LLC, Energo Prime LLC, Optim Palyvo LLC, and Energo Standard R LLC were maintained by related entities using the same IP addresses.
The essence of the scheme: from 2017 to 2019, officials of Palyvtorg LLC purchased natural gas from controlled enterprises at inflated prices and with inflated volumes of non-existent natural gas being reflected in the purchase.
It was also established that an official of Energo Standard R LLC used a Russian ruble account. Based on these findings, the investigation requested access to the company's documents. The most recent ruling in the case was in July 2019, where the court denied access to the documents of Lviv Railways JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, where, according to the investigation, the supply contracts were stored.
Perhaps we were a bit hasty in our assessment of Taras Zadorozhny's wealthy family—judging by the fact that his father-in-law made a fortune in a company with Russian ties, material interests were ultimately the primary consideration in Taras and Oksana's marriage.
The Zadorozhny family has other interesting relatives. Anna Doskich, the wife of Ostap Doskich, a Lviv City Council member from the BPP, was also listed at the Zadorozhnys' registered address. Since 2014, Ostap himself has been listed as a third party in a court case regarding an illegally occupied land plot, along with the Zadorozhny family. Ostap has an older brother, Yuriy Doskich, also a Lviv City Council member from the Servant of the People party. In 2019, Yuriy Doskich, as a candidate for parliament in the 125th constituency, planned to initiate the construction of a customs crossing in the village of Boberka (Lviv Oblast). Rumor has it that the Doskich brothers are connected to Serhiy Badyak, a smuggler and participant in schemes at Lviv customs, with influence over the Horodok and Zapad customs posts.
Why are we so interested in this essentially petty con man and, in a way, "halakhvast"? Because Taras Zadorozhny is a typical representative of the class that Ukraine has nurtured over the past thirty years. Consider this: a member of what in Europe is called the intellectual elite, having graduated from university and tried his hand at politics, begins to understand that this isn't Europe. And knowledge alone won't get you very far. You have to adapt.
And then a wealthy fiancée with a businessman father comes into his sights. The rest is a matter of technique and everything follows a well-worn pattern. Ultimately, the promising young man turns into a petty swindler with shady schemes. And the country loses its potential elite. It's a typical story, overall. Which, frankly, is very sad.
Olga Miroshnichenko
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