The owner of one of the major alcohol holdings in Ukraine, Yevhen Cherniak, who is suspected of financing Russia’s armed aggression, denies the accusations.
“Briefly to the point. Sanctions have been in force against Global Spirits in Russia since 2014. The company could not have any assets there. The license was revoked on February 24, no one looked at the losses, no one will work with the murderers of Ukrainians. This is the base. All Ukrainian companies terminated their licenses using the same procedure,” he said on Facebook on Saturday.
According to the businessman, the company won a court case in Cyprus and prohibited by a court decision of the European Court to use its trademarks in any form, in addition, it legally securing the revocation of the license.
“The documents in the case are not about paying taxes in the Russian Federation, but about certain enterprises in Central Asia, Sakartvelo, and Azerbaijan. I was not and am not now the owner or official of these enterprises, I have never rented them, no one from the company’s management is an official or beneficiary of the companies and factories specified in the case and, accordingly, could not buy or sell anything. Blaming them for this is complete absurdity,” Cherniak said.
“It is also unclear how the enterprises mentioned in the case could pay taxes in the Russian Federation if they are located not in the Russian Federation, but in the indicated countries; they could not pay taxes to the budget of another country,” he said.
The businessman said that the company is the largest taxpayer in the industry, and also provided significant assistance to the front.
Cherniak also said neither he nor the company in which he is the founder “violated anything, but like many Ukrainian businesses, we have a situation that, I really hope, is a mistake, and not an attempt to put pressure on the business for the purpose of raiding attacks on the market leader.”
“I am open, ready to answer any questions about the case, I am not hiding anywhere, just as none of the company’s people are hiding, everyone is ready for explanations in order to dispel this legal insanity that they are trying to accuse them of,” he said.
Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that law enforcement officers reported suspicion to Cherniak and six top managers of his companies. They are suspected of financing the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.