Journalist Serhiy Lyamets has analyzed in detail the activities of Oleksandr Tkachuk, the former head of the detective unit of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB). The publication mentions numerous high-profile scandals, multi-billion-dollar corruption schemes, counterfeit cigarettes, and his new appointment in the National Police.
Lyamets emphasizes that Tkachuk's activities at BEB were very revealing: he allegedly engaged in "extorting" money in the territory of the Odessa port and helped "extinguish" the scandal surrounding the Vynnyky tobacco factory. According to the journalist, the scale of the abuses could reach tens of billions of hryvnias.
Although Tkachuk was dismissed from the BEB, he received a new high-ranking position in the National Police. Lyamets notes that Tkachuk could have previously headed the BEB, but scandals surrounding his property, including apartments in Austria and an elite district of Kyiv, got in the way.
Odessa grain schemes
One of the high-profile cases involved grain schemes in Odessa. In October 2024, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) searched the heads of the Odessa BEB due to possible tax evasion by grain traders. The amount of potential abuse was estimated to be 10 billion hryvnias, seven times the BEB's annual budget.
According to the journalist, BEB detectives "acted on intuition," without official grounds from tax or customs authorities, forcing entrepreneurs to pay "tribute" to avoid fines and vessel downtime.
Counterfeit and the Vynnyky factory
Another high-profile episode was the blocking of investigative actions against the Vynnyky tobacco factory, which was suspected of manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes. According to Lyamets and other sources, Tkachuk tried to "hush up" the investigation in order to hide evidence and secure the interests of the factory owners.
People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak confirmed that the BEB actually stopped active actions against the factory, and they tried to "merge" the expertise and evidence.
Toxic professional at the National Police
The journalist ironically notes that Tkachuk's appointment to the National Police gives him an even greater tool of influence: "The police is the most powerful law enforcement agency with a huge budget and capabilities. Even the SBU looks like children next to the opportunities for pressure on business."
Lyamets expresses concern that other former BEB staff members, such as Oleg Yashchuk, may follow Tkachuk, and calls for preventing the appointment of individuals with a dubious reputation to key positions.
StopKor analysts are preparing their own material about the Vynnyky Tobacco Factory and are urging the public to report possible facts of abuse through the organization's official channels.
