Vynnyky Tobacco Factory claims illegal blocking of the enterprise for more than 60 days, budget losses amount to billions of hryvnias

The press service of the Vynnyky Tobacco Factory reported that the company had been blocked by law enforcement agencies for more than 60 days without any charges or explanations.

Even so, the factory was able to pay more than UAH 1 billion in taxes to the budget for May and June, as reported, due to the fact that about 170 employees manually carry out the manufactured products themselves, properly documenting them in accordance with the current legislation. The company's team is doing this in order not to fall out of the market completely and not to lose the gained positions in the market, as well as to receive salaries, the company noted.

"But even after the products are loaded onto trucks, employees of the Bureau of Economic Security seize the manufactured goods. To do this, they use the following "unoffensive" scheme: BES employees, as ordinary citizens, call the police number 102 and report allegedly illegal, counterfeit products. Then, together with the police, they come and seize the legal goods, on which all taxes have been paid. These facts have been established, and we hope they will be given an appropriate legal assessment," the statement reads.

The factory has reportedly already managed to sue about 20,000 boxes of tobacco products and send them for sale, paying taxes to the budget accordingly.

"What is particularly shocking and legally disenfranchising is the fact that the company has not been given any explanation for the blocking of its work. No charges have been brought. The investigators themselves admit in private that they received an order from the top, from Kyiv, to block production," the statement reads.

"The Vynnyky Tobacco Factory cannot interpret this situation as anything other than a grossly fabricated and falsified order against the company by one notorious businessman, a market participant living in Odesa and closely associated with Russian businessman Igor Kesayev. He cooperated with a newly established tobacco company with foreign capital in the Lviv region, which continues to operate actively in Russia, paying billions to the budget of the Russian aggressor (I wonder how this transnational company sleeps after the attack on Okhmatdyt with missiles made, among other things, from taxes paid by them?)," the statement reads.

The factory emphasizes that no explanation has been provided for such a shameless and brutal attack on the enterprise in violation of all legal norms of a state governed by the rule of law.

"Moreover, the Odesa court unlawfully and in violation of all procedural norms issued a new ruling to extend the searches and block the work for another 30 days. This happened after the Poltava court, which had issued a ruling on the searches during the first 30 days, refused to extend them. The case was transferred to Odesa, and the first judge who heard the case, realizing the illegality of continuing searches at the factory, refused to issue a ruling. He was then promptly replaced by another judge who extended the searches for another 30 days and also banned the company's employees from the adjacent areas of the factory, finally blocking any production activity. The employees will no longer be able to receive their salaries and support their families," the statement reads.

"All this is being done to block the work of the only and largest Ukrainian national tobacco producer with almost 250 years of history. Which has been a worthy and sensitive competitor to large multinational tobacco producers," the statement added.

As of now, the plant has already failed to pay UAH 8.5 billion in taxes and payments to the budget this year (last year, the company paid UAH 7.3 billion in taxes).

"It is impossible to interpret such actions as sabotage and anti-Ukrainian activities of law enforcement agencies under martial law," the statement reads.