In the fall of 2022, the Ukrainian state-owned enterprise Document, which has access to personal data of Ukrainian citizens, signed an agreement to represent its interests in Germany with the law firm Schmider & Eckstein. Both of its co-founders have worked in Russia for a long time and promoted doing business with the country led by Vladimir Putin. And one of them is a Russian citizen who supports the Kremlin's policies and endorses a full-scale war. This is stated in an investigation by the Radio Liberty project "Are you okay?", UNN reports.
As the journalists found out, Schmider& Eckstein has been providing services to clients from "Russia, Central and Eastern Europe" for 20 years. They help to set up a business in Germany, as well as in matters of migration, accompanying the entire process.
The co-founder of the company, Carl Eckstein, calls Russia his "second homeland" and states in his biography on the company's website that he has been cooperating with Moscow for 40 years. Karl Eckstein also served as the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Switzerland. The lawyer is a member of the International Association of Friends of Crimea, an association created in the occupied Crimea in 2017 to legalize the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula with the help of so-called agents of influence and advocate for the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
It is noted that Carl Eckstein considers the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to be justified. He even says that Putin "returned a sense of pride to Russians". Journalists have established that Carl Eckstein has been a citizen of Russia for 20 years.
Eckstein's partner, Frank Schmieder, lives and provides his services in Berlin. However, his entire biography is also linked to Russia and his business partner, a Russian passport holder, Karl Eckstein. Journalists of the Schemes project used Russian registers and databases to find out that Schmieder has had a Russian individual tax number since at least 2001.
"Despite this, in 2022, the Ukrainian state-owned enterprise Document entered into an agreement with Schmider & Eckstein to represent its interests in Germany. The journalists of the "Are You OK?" project got acquainted with copies of the power of attorney and letters that the law firm sent to the clients of the state enterprise," Radio Liberty reports.
Document assured that Schmider & Eckstein's access was limited to "data necessary to represent the interests of the company" or to conduct cases in courts, and that no one "had access to the Unified State Demographic Register or personal data of citizens." However, lawyers of Transparency International Ukraine, having familiarized themselves with the power of attorney, note that the law firm's powers "are quite extensive.
Addendum
Auditors checked SE "Document". 84 million of financial violations, of which UAH 15 million was spent on maintenance of the vehicle fleet.