While the country is fighting, and every hryvnia of the budget is painted on the front, hospitals and infrastructure restoration, large players continue to bring billions to the shadows impunity. One of them is Boris Kaufman, the Odessa businessman and the owner of the tobacco empire, which became a symbol of systematic tax evasion.
Tedis Ukraine LLC, the largest distributor of tobacco products in Ukraine, is a key asset of Kaufman. Over the years, the company has repeatedly appeared in scandals and criminal investigations. It was repeatedly accused of monopolization of the market, shadow turnover of cash and non -payment of taxes. But no matter has never reached the sentence. The reason is obvious - influence, connections and a thin game on the intersection of business and politics.
However, in recent years, another giant has been brought to the arena associated with Kaufman - DL Solution. In 2023, it showed an income of UAH 50.6 billion, and in 2024 - already UAH 88 billion. At the same time, the profit over the years amounted to only UAH 61.3 million and UAH 106 million, respectively - that is, only 0.12% of the total turnover. It looks like an economic absurdity.
To understand the scale of the problem: the average profitability in the field of distribution - 2-3%, and DL Solution shows the indicators 20-30 times lower. This indicates classic tax minimization schemes - resale of goods at low prices, fictitious costs, use of gaskets. Experts say directly: the Ukrainian tobacco market is one of the main schemes for discussing money in the country's economy.
What else is revealed: the Tax Service in Ukraine has enough tools for monitoring and control. She monitors online sales of citizens, taxes transfers between cards, tracks small operations in the mail. But when it comes to tens of billions of turnover with a tax burden 0.1% - is silent.
