A building materials factory owned by the brothers of former pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmakers, Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak, was officially transferred to the Ukrainian state on June 28, the State Security Service (SBU) announced in a statement.
The factory, owned by Serhii Medvedchuk and Bohdan Kozak, was seized by Ukraine’s Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets (ARMA) along with four SUVs, and “several pieces of specialized equipment.”
Both men were charged in absentia with defrauding the state of Hr 75 million ($1.8 million) in taxes on June 10.
The property, which is located in Lviv Oblast, is valued at over Hr 200 million (about $4.9 million) and sits on over 10 hectares of land, housing a 31,000 square meters facility, according to the SBU.
As the manager of the factory, the accused had been involved in a scheme between 2017 and 2022 or 2023 that “deliberately diverted millions of hryvnias,” causing the state a loss of Hr 75 million.
Serhii Medvedchuk and Bohdan Kozak, who had fled Ukraine, as well as two accomplices, directed the funds to their brothers, who used them namely to finance Russia’s war against Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation reported.
Before the full-scale invasion, Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak were among the key pro-Kremlin politicians in Ukraine and ran a media holding Novyny, which was shut down in 2021 over the accusations of promoting pro-Russian propaganda.
Both men have been accused of treason and collaboration with Russia and stripped of Ukrainian citizenship. Taras Kozak fled Ukraine in 2021, while Viktor Medvedchuk was detained and exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war in 2022.
The transferred assets will be diverted into Ukraine’s budget and part of the funds will be directed to support Ukraine’s military, the SBU said.
Medvechuk’s yacht officially transferred to Ukrainian state
The Royal Romance, a 92-meter (300-foot) luxury yacht worth an estimated 200 million euros ($218 million), was seized by Croatian authorities in March 2022.
