Ukraine's largest supermarket chain, ATB (ATB-Market LLC), is suspected of funding the Russian army through taxes paid in temporarily occupied Crimea. Political scientist Vladimir Tsybulko published financial information about Investment Construction Company LLC, the company under which former ATB stores operate in Crimea, in his blog on Liga.
He cited a number of indirect evidences that the company remains under the control of ATB. Specifically, in the Russian and Ukrainian registries, companies with identical names have the same director, the same authorized capital, and the same founder (a Cypriot company), which, according to media reports, previously had a direct connection to ATB Group companies.
Moreover, a year after the occupation of Crimea, ATB held tenders for the supply of goods for ISK specifically to the peninsula.
"According to Russian analytical services, in 2014 alone, ISK's revenue from sales on the peninsula amounted to over 7 billion rubles—almost 2 billion hryvnia. During the same period, the company paid over 20 million rubles in taxes in Russia—that's 5,6 million hryvnia. I suspect this figure at least doubled in 2015," he wrote.
The information provided by the political scientist fully corresponds to official reporting data contained in the SPARK information disclosure system and can be freely accessed through relevant online services.
The political scientist considers it unacceptable that "while handing over shells to the Russian occupation army with one hand, with the other, Gennady Butkevich signs the 'oligarchs' declaration' on the honest payment of taxes in Ukraine."
As a reminder, a number of entrepreneurs previously signed a joint declaration declaring their intention to increase investment in Ukraine, pay taxes fairly, and create jobs.
"Do Vitaly Antonov, Viktor Pinchuk, Oleh Bakhmatyuk, and others feel comfortable seeing their names associated with a man whose hands, without exaggeration, are stained with the blood of our soldiers, whose conscience bears the tears of mothers, thousands of lost homes, and hundreds of thousands of broken lives of displaced persons? Or has Viktor Pinchuk spent so many years investing so much effort and money into charity and international 'political diplomatic' projects only to discredit everything by standing alongside such an odious figure? Or can money buy any indulgence? Does the joint declaration mean that all its signatories share Gennady Butkevich's principles?" asks Tsybulko.
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