Ex-director of UIA Dykhne suspected of tax evasion of over UAH 344 million

The former management of a Ukrainian airline has been exposed for tax evasion amounting to over 344 million hryvnias. They have already been notified of suspicion. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, according to UNN.

As UNN learned from its own sources, the former director of UIA, Yevhen Dykhne, and the former chief accountant of the carrier are involved.

"Prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General have notified the former director and former chief accountant of a Ukrainian airline company, which is associated with a well-known Ukrainian businessman, of suspicion of intentional tax evasion amounting to over UAH 344 million, i.e., on a particularly large scale, and entering knowingly false information into tax reporting (Part 3 of Article 212, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the post states.

What is currently known:

• lease agreements for Boeing 737 and Embraer aircraft were concluded between a Cypriot company (the owner of the aircraft) and a Ukrainian airline company;
• in fulfillment of these agreements, from 2017 to 2022, the Ukrainian company paid the Cypriot company over UAH 3.4 billion in lease payments for the use of the aircraft;
• using the Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus on the avoidance of double taxation, the former management of the Ukrainian company applied a preferential rate of 0% when making payments and did not pay a single hryvnia to the budget of Ukraine;
• during the investigation, it was established that the application of the preferential rate by the former management of the Ukrainian company did not comply with either the terms of the concluded agreements or the actual needs for the operation of the aircraft.

In other words, the airline was supposed to apply a preferential rate of 10%, but applied 0%. This led to a shortfall of over UAH 344 million in the state budget.

Earlier, within the framework of this criminal proceeding, 7 Boeing 737 and Embraer E 190 aircraft were mentioned, which were the subject of leasing according to prosecutorial agreements.

Currently, as stated, the pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Addition

In March 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court sentenced the former head of the state enterprise "Boryspil International Airport" Yevhen Dykhne to 5 years in prison in a case concerning abuse of office that caused over UAH 15.7 million in damages.