The National Police of Ukraine has uncovered a large pharmaceutical scheme involving a Ukrainian oligarch who organized the production and sale of Ukrainian medicines on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Kostiantyn Zhevaho"Operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department, together with investigators from the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine, exposed a multi-level criminal scheme controlled by a 51-year-old Ukrainian businessman— a native of the Russian Federation (...) The perpetrators arranged a "scheme" for obtaining pharmacopoeial samples, which are benchmarks for the quality control of Ukrainian medicines. Without their availability, the production and sale of domestic medicines in Russia would have been impossible," it stated in a report on the agency's website on Wednesday.
An unnamed source from law enforcement told the Interfax-Ukraine agency that the owner of "Vorskla" is Kostiantyn Zhevaho.
According to the National Police, the scheme involved the head of a Ukrainian pharmaceutical corporation, financial managers, individuals responsible for the export of pharmacopoeial samples, the head of the Russian representation, officials of the controlled medical companies from both countries, and distributors. The leader, having full control over the structure of the companies, personally determined the participants of the criminal group, coordinated their actions, and allocated roles among them.
It is noted that this step allowed the oligarch owner to simultaneously avoid negative consequences from doing business on the territory of the Russian Federation after the events of 2014 and to continue receiving illegal income. However, for further cooperation, the organizer set a condition: Russian pharmaceutical producers were required to continue placing the logo of the Ukrainian corporation on packages of medicines produced in the Russian Federation. Still, in the documentation regarding the origin of the products, the country of origin is indicated as Ukraine.
An important condition for the realization of the large pharmaceutical transaction was the supply of benchmark samples needed for official registration and quality control of medicines in the Russian regulatory bodies. Thus, after the legislative ban on the export of medicines introduced in 2022, the Ukrainian businessman created a controlled non-resident company abroad. It was through this company that the Russians received the necessary documentation and samples for the quality of the products. For this purpose, the businessman engaged the commercial director of the enterprise, which is the official distributor of the State Pharmacopoeia of Ukraine, and his wife, whose duties included receiving and transferring benchmark samples to a foreign "covered" company.
The agency emphasizes that the organizer personally controlled the transfer of rights and production technologies of Ukrainian companies. As a result, a number of medical products from the trademarks of Ukrainian companies were officially registered in the Russian Federation— corresponding licensing agreements can be found in the state register of medicines of the Russian Federation. Although this data was entered before the full-scale invasion, the criminals continued to renew property rights in 2023-2024. This became possible after the Ukrainian side officially renounced copyright on the products manufactured on the territory of the Russian Federation. It is on this basis that the Russian enterprise controlled by the Ukrainian businessman was able to register patent rights for itself.
From the beginning of 2022 to the first quarter of 2024, the sale of medicines produced in Russia based on Ukrainian technologies and standards brought over 100 million rubles to the budget of the aggressor country in the form of tax revenue. The total profit of the Russian enterprise controlled by the Ukrainian oligarch during this time amounted to at least 892 million rubles, which is over 420 million UAH.
On July 16, operatives from the Strategic Investigations Department and police investigators conducted more than 40 searches in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Kyiv region, including in office and production premises, as well as residences of involved persons. Documentation, stamps, computer equipment, etc. were seized.
The leader of the criminal organization— the Ukrainian oligarch— and eight of his accomplices have been notified by the police of suspicion under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:— ch. 1 and 2 of Art. 255 (Creation, leadership of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it); — ch. 4 of Art. 27, ch. 4 of Art. 28, ch. 1 of Art. 111-2 (aiding the aggressor state) — ch. 3 of Art. 212 (tax evasion, duties (mandatory payments)), — ch. 3 of Art. 209 (legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means).
Currently, further measures are underway to identify all persons involved in the crime, document sources of profit from illegal activities, and arrest corporate rights and assets of sanctioned businesses in favor of the state. The maximum penalty is up to 12 years of imprisonment.
