Kings of the Ukrainian Forest

On a sunny August morning in 2016, a fit Romanian customs officer was clearing the next carload with the forest. All tracks of the Serret station - a small town on the border with Ukraine - were filled with freight trains. Young customs officer was looking into contracts and invoices of Biofuel Trading, entering data into a laptop computer.

At that time, a powerful explosion broke out at a distance of 270 kilometers, near a small Old Village near Lviv.

The mine was laid under asphalt, and the explosion "dug" a funnel one and a half meters deep. The Mercedes-Benz G was tossed to the roadside.

The jeep was fired at by two assault rifles and a machine gun from an ambush in the woods. Three guards were killed.

Part Two. Criminal authority

The beginning of the war

Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko called the target of the attack:

 - A person quite well known in the narrow criminal circles of Lviv region

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov at the press conference "cut off":

- Entrepreneur Bohdan Kopitko, known in the western regions of Ukraine by the nickname Bodia, Kopyto, Dollar.

Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko did not abstain:

- Previously convicted.

And the first deputy head of the National Police Vadim Troyan also stated the reasons:

- The investigation considers that it is a struggle for the sphere of criminal influence. Clearly, the grounds are illegal enrichment.

(collage of the author)

Bogdan Kopytko survived. His jeep managed to escape from the trap and from under fire. In the surrounding area, police found two more mines that had not worked, as well as an unused grenade launcher.

The executors were detained. The customer was detained too. The police said that this is Dmitry Havrylyuk. Subsequently, he and four others were charged.

In addition, in the company of two other men, Dmitry Havrylyuk has also been charged with another murder. This is the murder of Lviv businessman M. Rodych.

These criminal proceedings are pending before the Shevchenko District Court of Lviv.

And Dmitry Gavrilyuk is in a detention center.

According to the newspaper "Ratusha", Havrylyuk headed the "battle wing" in the "brigade" of criminal authority Vova Morda.

(Organized Crime Detention from MIA_Ukraine)

The third year has passed. Law enforcement officers and judges have not known yet what "areas of influence" the fight began.

This article summarizes the facts that illustrate the possible pattern of Ukrainian wood exports abroad.

Bogdan Kopytko could the be the brain and the organizer in scheme.

And Yuriy Lutsenko. When he was thinking about the authority's criminal record, would rather tell how the Prosecutor General "lit up" in this scheme.

You should do as I say

- Enough to tell stories here. Voluntarily issue. I say it again: those who hit people are not place here - the gray-haired little man, in a simple blue short-sleeved shirt, actively gestured with his hands.

It was 2010, when tax inspectors came to the Lviv cold-storage plant, and the owner of the controlling stake, Bogdan Kopytko, personally met them at the checkpoint.

-In the district department you will shoot a video. And here you should do, as I say, - he showed who is the master here.

Bogdan Kopytko is known not only in Ukraine.

In 1999, he turned his business eyes to the Czech Republic. Since then, his family and partners have become shareholders of several local businesses. I do not dwell on what it is for "business". This is a separate investigation that is being conducted by my Czech colleagues.

Bohdan Kopytko's daughter lived in Prague, where she graduated from the prestigious and expensive British International School.

Meanwhile, at home, the man took control of not only the Lviv cold-storage plant, which is among the top five ice cream producers in the country, but also the Drohobych dairy plant. And of course, in such a respectable environment - a football club.

B ut the most important asset is probably the huge building empire. Although, formally, the man does not appear in it. Managers and executives are his closest among the most trusted individuals. Among them is son Yuriy Kopytko and longtime financial partner Denis Sierebrennikov.

However, if you analyze in the Unified State Register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs the data of the seven largest companies of the construction empire, you will find the name of Julian Poburko, a twenty-five-year-old Lviv who, since 2016, has been the most important business guru since 2016.

(Foto - Facebook Y. Poburko)

A young cheerful fellow - actually, this is Julian Poburko. Julian like to travel to Santorini Island and visit expensive restaurants with his charming wife. He has a good education and a respectable father who works with the most famous Ukrainian architects and wealthy Swiss investors ...

And then there is the fairy tale end

In the first part of the investigation, I described the scheme of illegal export of timber from Ukraine to the European Union. According to the investigation, the companies of Andrei Voronovskiy and Nazar Lysiy operated hundreds of millions, launder dirty money, some of which went to bribes to Ukrainian forest managers.

* (However, the criminal proceedings were closed. How it happened - it will be described in the fourth part). *

One of the companies - Biofuel Trading was founded in 2012. The other - Bioenergy solutions - in 2013. I found documents that, since 2014, the Dodgers began to sign contracts, and in the following years actively exported the forest.

In fact, between 2012 and 2015, Nazar Lysiy and Julian Poburko were co-owners of Premium Project. It even had a legal address - at the place where Poburko was registered.

Before the Lviv City Council, Andriy Voronovskiy worked as a deputy director at Ukreurointegration.

Student Julian Poburko practiced in this organization.

For several years, until 2017 (when criminal proceedings were opened for the export of timber), the company was co-owned by Nazar Lysiy.

Another co-owner was Irina Poburko, Julian's mom.

Ukreurointegration is one of the companies through which, according to SCFM, money was laundered.

According to the investigator, Lysiy and Voronovskiy's Estonian company Technologies OÜ were also involved in laundering. It had a Ukrainian phone number.

At the same time, it is the telephone number of Planet Cinema Company. For several years the director here is Voronovskiy.

He is also a co-owner of the company. Together with Nazar Lysiy.

Another beneficiary - and their partner - Andriy Poburko - Julian's father.

Therefore, a cheerful fellow is the first (but not the last) link that leads to the true “owner” of the export scheme.

This cheerful young man, who, according to the State Register of Real Estate Rights, does not even have his own apartment, was and is a co-founder - co-beneficiary of companies that are part of a network that builds and sells hundreds of homes across Ukraine.

Just leaving the student ranks, he became one of the two beneficiaries of a joint stock company with a statute of 700 million.

* (Information as of 01.01.2019. Based on data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs) *

“Kurchenko's lawyer" and Kaletnik's case

In the winter of 2010, in the center of Nadvirna in the Hutsul region, a small man came out of an unpresentable car, approached Land Cruiser, pulled out a gun and shot two shots in the head of businessman Vladimir Oliynyk. The deceased was known in various circles.

He was also a business partner of Bogdan Kopytko at Globus LLC.

Another founder of the firm was Euroinvest Asset Management Company.

(Denis Serebrennikov, photo www.mastersua.com/en/staff/)

Since its founding in 2005, it has been managed by Diane Srebrennikova. The company was created by her husband Denis and their relatives.

The name of Srebrennikov disappeared from the beneficiaries in 2017. Instead, Diana accumulated more than 33% of the company.

Today, Euroinvest is a partner in several projects of Bogdan and Yuri Kopytko.

(Information as of 01.01.2019. Based on data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs)

Until 2017, Denis Serebrennikov was the head and ultimate beneficiary of the ZNVKIF Global Development Joint Stock Company, with a statute of 700 million. This joint-stock company is the co-founder of several companies in the construction of the Kopitka empire.

And in this company one of the two final beneficiaries was Julian Poburko.

The relationship between Serebrennikov and Kopytko is so close that men have even bought neighboring apartments in the upscale Kiev high-rise building (according to the Unified State Register of Real Estate Rights).

Denis Serebrennikov is a powerful ally for Bohdan Kopytko.

In the public domain, he is better known as a lawyer for the businesses of Sergei Kurchenko, a fugitive oligarch from Yanukovych's immediate environment.

Also, the name of Srebrennikov appeared in a high-profile case about illegal enrichment of ex-People's Deputy Igor Kaletnik (ex-head of the Customs Service of Ukraine). The reason for the investigation was the appropriation of 40 hectares of land and forest land by relatives of Kaletnik.

In the course of the searches, significant sums of money were seized in Srebrennikov's office. However, a year ago, the court overturned his arrest, returning him $ 175,000 and significant sums of francs, euros, rubles and pounds. However, prosecutors reported "sufficient reason to believe that these funds were obtained as a result of illegal activity."

“Painted Fox”

Returning to Julian Poburko. It is not difficult to explain the disappearance from the registry of Srebrennikov and the appearance of a guy there.

Behind the back of building empire companies is a cloud of scandals and criminal proceedings. But, there is one that is fraught with unpleasant consequences. And - to the whole empire and its members.

There is such a company - Global Development LTD. With co-owner Pobourko. Respectable organization.

Twelve floors will be built - in an area where only four are allowed.

The skyscraper will be erected on the site provided for service of the gas station.

As a developer, they will try to erect a ten-storey building, although the contracting authority will have only three permits.

And such things can be write on several pages.

But once the owners crossed the limit.

Initially, Global Development LTD and later Comfort Park, where four people from the immediate vicinity of Bohdan Kopytko appeared at the time, got involved in the history of the construction of a high-rise building in Chernivtsi.

The situation is typical - money is raised, the house is not ready, the shareholders are running around, asking where their apartments are.

Only in this situation the land was leased by the police department of the region. Instead, there are 12 apartments for police officers. And this people are not so simple. Not only several dozen injured shareholders signed the crime allegations, they even managed to reach Prosecutor General Lutsenko. That man which was "visible" in the scheme of export of forest.

And he is the Minister of the Interior in the past. The honor of the uniform has already worked here. Money is money, schemes are schemes, forests are forests, but there is police solidarity.

And now the Damocles's sword is hanging over the construction and financial business in the Prosecutor General's Office. If you read the recent decision of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv and believe in the achievements of the Chief Investigator of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, are described in the resolution - it becomes creepy.

Compete with strength with the State Bureau of Investigation

Of course, sentences have not been yet. And whether they will - depends now on the new government.

After all, the case should soon be referred to the State Bureau of Investigation.

In short, the version of the investigation is as follows:

The group of individuals created construction companies - Hard Shell (beneficiaries Y. Kopitko, Y. Poburko - at the time of the incriminating actions) and Global Development LTD (beneficiary Y. Poburko).

The developers - different Housing Cooperatives - worked in cities of Ukraine. They had general contractor - Hard Shell. Apartments were sold by Global Development LTD.

The proceeds was paid into the bank accounts of JSC Global Development (beneficiary Sierebrennikov - at the time of the incriminated events, later - Poburko).

JSC turnover in the 2017th year alone - 1.3 billion

JSC withdraws part of the money. For the rest of the money it buys “junk” securities (those that are not backed by liquid assets). And for further conversion companies with fictitious features are used. As a result, taxes in particularly large amounts have not been paid and cash is legalized.

In the course of the pre-trial investigation, “numerous facts of violation of current legislation during construction, unauthorized occupied land plots, as well as violations at each stage of construction” were found.

But the most interesting thing came when the State Bureau of Investigation took the case - high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction appear in the proceedings.

In view of the extremely dangerous investigation, it becomes clear why the Srebrennikov, close to Kopytko, disappeared from the register.

Instead, Julian Poburko appeared.

(Not so long ago, his name is not on the register).

The blow in return

Between two rounds of presidential elections in Ukraine, in April this year, in a forest area near the village of Ivankovichi, 20 kilometers from Kiev, police special forces detained a group of killers.

(police operative video)

The period of special operation forced law enforcement not only to make loud statements and publish operative video, but also to identify persons.

All because supporters of the President's candidate, now President Zelenskiy, began to actively disseminate information: an attempt was being made on him.

Because the politician's house is in the cottage town "Pearl of Italy" in Ivankovichi.

Prosecutor General Lutsenko best denied the disinformation.

Today is a day of criminal investigation - a strong backbone of the National Police. On April 15, 2019, the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kyiv region detained an armed group of three individuals who had armed resistance during the detentions.

According to preliminary data, the said group was preparing the physical liquidation of the Lviv criminal authority on the order of unidentified persons from among the residents of the Lviv region as revenge for ordering an organized assassination attempt on 29.08.2016 of the Lviv businessman Bogdan K.

(photo from open source)

The photo has this Lviv criminal authority. Vladimir Didukh ("Vova Mord").

It is in Ivankovichi that one of Natalia S.'s many houses and apartments, who is called the Didukh's civilian wife in the media.

- The group was preparing the liquidation of Lviv criminal authority ... As revenge for ordering an organized assassination attempt on August 29, 2016, of the Lviv businessman Bohdan K., - did not refrain from opening the investigation files of the Prosecutor General.

At the beginning of this part, I noted that the police called Dmitry Havrylyuk as the customer of the attempt on Bogdan Kopytko.

According to the "Ratusha", it was he who headed the "fighting wing" of the criminal authority - Vova Morda.

By the way, detainees are not simple guys. They obtained a machine gun DShK, dismantled the rear of the Toyota Prado - under the "tachanka".

(collage of the author. Photo - Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine)

There could be many casualties - given the effective machine gun range - at 3.5 kilometers.

Within minutes of the men's detention, a Special forces stormed the car of the alleged co-organizer in a shooting in Kiev. A source at the Prosecutor General's Office identified him - Andriy Soltis.

(police operative video)

These facts may indicate that the criminal war was being waged of illegal removal of wood abroad.

I have established a number of close links between Soltis and companies that have laundered money from illegal export of timber to the European Union.

Soltis infer to potowerful empires of conversion centers.

(Soltis judicial interrogation, video snippet from "Police Investigation". Attempt on the Vova Morda ”, Espresso TV)

And, after Julian Poburko, Andriy Soltis is the next, second link that connects the Voronovskiy and Lysiy performers with the final beneficiary. In the forest export scheme, the brain and organizer in which Bogdan Kopytko is viewed.

About all this - in part three. Soon - Advocate.

* Letters requesting comments were sent to persons involved. At the time of publication, no response was provided. If, however, the questions are answered, they will be published in the following sections.

Taras Zozulinskyy, 28.08.2019

This material was supported by the "OPEN Media Hub", and funded by the European Union

The investigation used a "YouControl" analytical system

The first part of the investigation - "Offshore Estonia and criminal Albion"