Ukrainian tax authorities have uncovered a suspected large-scale fraud scheme involving more than 2,300 shell companies that withdrew over $4.7 billion from the country between 2024 and early 2026.

According to the State Tax Service of Ukraine, the vast majority of transactions were exports: 1,243 companies carried out goods shipments valued at over 176 billion hryvnia, while an additional 555 companies handled imports totaling over 18 billion hryvnia.

Lesia Karnaukh, acting head of the Tax Service, revealed that hundreds of companies had been re-registered under the same individuals. “We identified seven individuals, each of whom is simultaneously the manager or founder of more than 500 companies. In total, more than 7,000 business entities are under their control,” she stated.

The tax service noted that many suspect companies used identical IP addresses and submitted reports from the same computer networks—a pattern atypical for legitimate businesses. Materials indicating violations and signs of money laundering have been prepared for 557 entities and forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office for further investigation.

This scheme is part of Ukraine’s long-standing struggle with “black grain” exports, where agricultural products are bought with cash and routed through chains of fictitious legal entities to evade taxes. In some cases, the grain is reclassified as agricultural waste, reducing taxation and allowing illicit profits to remain outside Ukraine.

The issue has been exacerbated by EU policies that temporarily suspended tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural goods in 2022. This move triggered protests across Europe and was later rolled back in June 2025.

Additionally, Ukraine has faced chronic corruption, including a recently uncovered $100 million kickback scheme at the state nuclear company Energoatom involving former Energy Minister German Galushchenko.