A company from the Mykolaiv region is suspected of failing to pay 35 million in taxes

A court has granted investigators access to the bank records of the Mykolaiv-based company "Gospodar-2," which is suspected of tax evasion amounting to tens of millions of hryvnias.

This is stated in a ruling by the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.

The investigation was prompted by an unscheduled documentary audit of the company. It concerned the payment of income tax and VAT for 2022–2024, as well as transactions with one of the suppliers in December 2020.

Based on the audit results, tax authorities determined that the company underreported its income tax by 15.85 million hryvnias. Of this amount:

• for 2022—2.34 million hryvnias;
• for 2023 — 9.72 million hryvnias;
• for 2024—3.79 million hryvnias.

In addition, the audit revealed an understatement of value-added tax (VAT) by 19.47 million hryvnias. In total, the understatement of income tax and VAT exceeded 35.3 million hryvnias.

Tax officials also determined that the company overstated the negative balance—which was supposed to be carried forward as a tax credit to the next period—by 441,100 hryvnias.

Another violation was that the company failed to prepare and register 114 tax invoices for the supply of goods and services totaling over 88 million hryvnias, of which VAT amounted to over 17.6 million hryvnias.

Investigators explained that the bank documents are needed to establish the circumstances of the criminal proceedings —specifically, the possible flow of funds and the involvement of specific individuals.

The court agreed with the investigators’ arguments and granted law enforcement temporary access to the bank’s documents. This includes documents submitted when the account was opened, as well as information on fund flows from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024—including dates, times, payment amounts, counterparties, and the purpose of the transactions.

The court also authorized the collection of data on IP addresses and geolocation of logins to online banking, as well as the devices and phone numbers used for authorization. In addition, investigators gained access to the bank’s internal audit materials regarding the company’s transactions.

Earlier, Intent reported on“Gospodar-2” in connection with another case. A businessman from Mykolaiv, linked to regional council deputy and Voznesensk District State Administration Head Oleksandr Kukuruza, was placed under overnight house arrest. He is suspected of embezzling budget funds intended for the repair of a school roof in Voznesensk, and the court has placed a temporary lien on a share of his apartment.

According to the investigation, between 2021 and 2023, a businessman named Pestov entered false information into the certificates of completion, inflating the scope and cost of repairs to Building A1 of Voznesensk Secondary School No. 5 by 3.9 million hryvnias.

Additionally, “Gospodar-2” had already been featured in a journalistic investigation by Intent —regarding the major renovation of the Stepkivska School’s shelter, which had been planned as far back as 2019 but was repeatedly delayed.

The Center for Public Investigations also reported on the company: in April, “Gospodar-2” received 14 million hryvnias to restore the water supply system in the village of Sofiivka, Pervomaiskyi District.

Ірина Глухова