Photos with Usyk and a trial between clones: something about the smaller players in the "gray" tech market
Kyiv • UNN
A new investigation by UNN examines the eStore, iPeople, and Appleroom networks, which are suspected of trading in counterfeit equipment. Facts of tax evasion and the absence of necessary labeling have been discovered.
As part of a market study of counterfeit equipment trade, we continue to analyze networks suspected of engaging in such trade. We have already written about major market participants such as "Yabko", Yabluka and Stylus. Now we have turned our attention to somewhat smaller networks, which, however, turned out to be no less interesting. Read more in the material of UNN.
eStore
On the Internet, you can find evidence of this network selling equipment without fiscal receipts. In addition, the packaging of goods does not contain the appropriate markings that should be on equipment legally imported into Ukraine.
Interestingly, from what we were able to find in open sources, the network resorts to imitating fiscal receipts - an inexperienced buyer who does not know how to check the receipt for compliance with legal requirements can easily believe that this is the exact receipt that is needed.
The absence of a fiscal receipt and appropriate labeling is also evidenced by a study by the Test Expert Center.
The owner of the eStore brand is Serhiy Pyekhotin from Avdiivka. This person is also involved in the company "Electronics Ukraine", which was registered in 2013 in Donetsk and is currently liquidated, as well as in the operating LLC "Electronics UA", which is registered in the capital and engaged in wholesale trade of electronic and telecommunications equipment and parts for it.
We were unable to find a direct connection between this company and eStore (except for Pyekhotin's involvement), but there is something interesting about this company - Alisa Yuriivna Savina is listed among the company's founders, and as we managed to establish, a person with a similar name and the same place of registration is somehow involved in more than three dozen companies with different business profiles. And some of these companies are defendants in criminal proceedings, in particular for illegal seizure of land plots and budget funds.
The pseudo-fiscal receipts issued by eStore to its customers indicate LLC "Technodrome Plus", which was registered in 2023 in the village of Tarasivka, Kyiv region. This company is managed by Hennadii Pogribny, and the owner is Daniil Makerin.
Despite the fact that the company was registered relatively recently, it has already caught the attention of the tax authorities. Thus, during the inspection, the tax authorities found that the company did not have a registrar of settlement operations and/or a software registrar of settlement operations registered in accordance with the procedure established by law. This incident happened to the company in 2024.
But if you dig deeper behind the eStore trademark, you will find a criminal proceeding that was investigated by law enforcement officers back in 2015.
"During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the retail stores "eStore", located at the addresses: Kyiv, Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square, first line of the Hlobus shopping center, second floor; Kyiv, Khreshchatyk/Chervonoarmiyska Street, 1-3/2, Arena-City shopping center, and the website "estore.ua" illegally distribute products marked with the Apple trademark, which by all indications are counterfeit and/or products of unknown origin, which were not imported into the territory of Ukraine by official importers and are not intended for supply and sale in the territory of Ukraine. This gives reason to believe that these products were moved across the customs border of Ukraine in violation of the intellectual property rights of the copyright holder, customs regulations and without payment of customs payments provided for by law."
The same criminal proceedings refer to the likely use of sole proprietorships for various types of trade transactions. Those who have read our previous articles about the "gray" electronics market are already familiar with such schemes.
iPeople
According to our information, as of 2025, this network has more than 30 offline stores.
The already known inspection by the Test Expert Center has confirmed that the network sells equipment that has neither seller identification nor labeling of compliance with technical regulations nor information about the importer. In addition, the packaging has no inscriptions in Ukrainian, and the buyer is not issued a fiscal receipt. All these signs are characteristic of "gray", illegally imported equipment to Ukraine.
Interestingly, in 2023 iPeople became a nominee for the "People's Brand" competition held in Vinnytsia by local RIA Media.
Even more interesting is that, probably for its promotion, the brand used a photo with the famous boxer Oleksandr Usyk.
We hope that the world-famous champion did not know that he was posing against the background of the logo of a network that, by all indications, sells contraband equipment.
The iPeople trademark belongs to Artur Filipovych and Roman Melnyk.
Artur Filipovych is the head and owner of Tekhnopro LLC, which is registered in Lviv and engaged in retail trade of telecommunications equipment in specialized stores. In 2018, the then State Fiscal Service sued this company for tax debt. And in 2019, Filipovych himself was held liable before the court, as an individual entrepreneur, for non-payment of a fine for advertising in unauthorized places.
Another point that caught our attention during the iPeople study was a court order from 2023. In particular, it states that the applicant is asking to take measures against the illegal reproduction of Ipeople.in.ua databases by the Ipeople.space Internet resource.
During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that unknown persons using the website "iPeople.space" are selling non-original "Apple" products under the guise of original ones
That is, a network that itself sells equipment that has all the signs of being counterfeit went to law enforcement and complained that someone was illegally trading on behalf of its brand? It seems so.
Appleroom
As we know, this network has about two dozen stores. The Appleroom trademark belongs to Anastasia Smirnova, who owns Rum Trade Mobile LLC, which, among other things, can carry out retail trade of telecommunications equipment in specialized stores. Previously, the owner of this company was Nazar Shmyhelsky, who is also listed as the applicant for registration of the Appleroom trademark.
This network, like others, attracted the attention of regulatory authorities due to violations of the procedure for settlements in the field of trade.
Currently, according to insider information, Appleroom has been bought out by the "Yabko" network.