On the book market of Ukraine there are companies that have Ukrainian registration, but maintain ties with Russia. According to the results of the research conducted by the "Sensor" publishing house together with "Molfar", it was found that such publishers continue to receive state grants.
One of these companies is a subsidiary of Alpina Publisher Ukraine, which is owned by Russian businessman Oleksiy Ilyin. At the moment, the company has not expressed its position regarding the events related to the full-scale invasion and has not announced its closure or withdrawal from the Ukrainian market.
Another Russian publishing group working in Ukraine is "Azbuka-Atticus", which owns such publishing houses as "Mahaon-Ukraine" and "Native language". In 2021, the owner of "Azbuka-Atticus" Oleksandr Mamut, who became the object of sanctions by the Ukrainian authorities, sold his business to Oleh Novikov. However, in 2022, the "Mother Tongue" publishing house changed its name and re-registered its business in Ukraine.
The company "Exmo-AST", which is a leader in the field of book publishing in Russia, previously had a significant influence in Ukraine. Currently, it does not have an official distributor in Ukraine, but there are companies with which researchers have found a close connection with Russia, namely with "Exmo". Among them are the publishing houses Bookchef, "Fors Ukraine" and the online store book24.ua.
In 2003, Exmo and Ukrainian businessman Yaroslav Marynovych founded Exmo-Ukraine LLC, but during the war in 2014, Marynovych announced the severance of ties with the Russian Federation. Later, the business was transferred to the pensioner Ludmila Bozhko, whom the investigators consider a front person. She is the owner of the "Distributive Book Trading Company" and "Force Ukraine", which owns the trademarks "Exmo" and others.
The general director of Bookchef is Oleksandr Kirpichev, who previously headed the "Distribution Book Trading Company". It is also noted that Yaroslav Marynovich is a co-owner of Bukva bookstores and indirectly owns the KM-Books publishing group through his Polish legal entity.
"KM-Books" notes that the investigation is manipulative and false, and rejects any relation to "Force Ukraine", book24.ua and Bookchef. In addition, companies such as Vivat, Yakaboo and Knygarnya Ye have already announced the immediate termination of cooperation with the Bookchef publishing house.
