The "White Business Club," created at the initiative of Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy, includes 24 companies with Russian owners. In addition, the list includes companies associated with sanctioned individuals, in particular, suspected of treason Taras Kozak and Viktor Medvedchuk, UNN reports.
According to the analytical platform "Opendatabot‘, 7 997 companies were included in the ’White Business Club", which, as Hetmantsev declared, was created for honest and conscientious business and would protect entrepreneurs from excessive attention from the tax authorities. That is, the list of those selected was to include businesses that meet the standards of transparent business conduct in Ukraine, demonstrate openness, pay taxes in good faith, submit reports, and have no ties to Russia.
"However, at the time of the full-scale invasion, 24 companies from the club had Russian owners. Currently, none of these businesses officially has a Russian trace. We would like to remind you that since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, there has been a moratorium on changing registration data in companies with owners from Russia, except for a few cases clearly defined by law," the statement said.
It is noted that Opendatabot sent an appeal to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to verify registration changes in such businesses.
"The Opendatabot analyzed the companies included in the trusted list of the State Tax Service and found representatives among them who are related to sanctioned persons through joint business. Thus, two companies belong to the Kozak brothers' group, whose owners are connected to Viktor Medvedchuk's group. The list also includes businesses that have ties to Alef Corporationowned by sanctioned Vadym Yermolaievand Burisma Groupwhose owner is in the Corruption Register and so on," the analysts added.
In addition, it is noted that after the list was published , sanctions were imposed on Yuriy Boyko - two businesses from his group were also included in the Getmantsev Club.
It is worth noting that Medvedchuk and Kozak are suspected of a number of serious crimes against the state, including treason.
In 2023, the National Security and Defense Council also imposed sanctions against Ukrainian millionaire Vadym Yermolaiev, a Cypriot citizen.
The owner of Burisma, according to media reports, is former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Mykola Zlochevsky, who is suspected of illicit enrichment and embezzlement of public funds on a large scale.
Statistics
According to the analytical platform, 42% of companies from the White Business Club earn between UAH 10 and 100 million per year, which is 3,300 businesses. Another 177 companies can boast revenues of over UAH 1 billion (2.2%). Another 208 Club members did not submit reports to the State Statistics Service for 2023 , so it is currently impossible to assess their financial performance.
Almost a quarter of white business representatives are concentrated in the capital - 1 927 companies. Another 10% or 794 companies are registered in Dnipropetrovska oblast. Kyiv region rounds out the top three with 594 companies or 7%.
16% or 1 275 companies from the white list are engaged in wholesale trade. Agriculture is in second place with 1,120 businesses (14%). Real estate involves 675 companies (8.4%), and maintenance of buildings and territories - 359 companies (4.5%). The medical industry rounds out the top five with 312 companies (3.9%).
Recall
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed the scandalous draft law on the "white business club" by the head of the parliament's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev. The document was criticized by both Mr. Hetmantsev's colleagues in parliament and experts. Even legal opinions stated that it did not comply with Ukrainian law. In addition, the creation of the "white business club" in Ukraine was the first anti-reform in a long time .
In their comments to UNN, economic experts pointed out that the document violates the Constitution of Ukraine and creates discriminatory conditions in the business environment.
The fact that Hetmantsev's draft law contains discriminatory norms and has corruption risks, is also stated in the conclusion of analysts of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs.
Business Ombudsman Roman Vashchuk also stated that the draft law on the "white business club" is discriminatory.
Vox Ukraine experts consider the law on the "white business club" to be an anti-reform.