Agribusiness in the occupied Kherson region, Cyprus and a deputy from Odesa: SBU uncovers booking scheme

Odesa MP and former MP Ivan Fursin is at the center of an SBU investigation into possible business cooperation with the Russian occupation authorities in Kherson region. Investigators are also checking the role of the Ukrainian Match Factory, which could have been used to make reservations and foreign business trips.

The Center forPublicInvestigations found out the details of the investigation.

According to the ruling of the Peresypskyi District Court of Odesa, Ukrainian Match Factory LLC from Rivne region may be connected to a scheme of doing business in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region with the participation of representatives of the Russian occupation administration.

Owners, offshore companies, and connections to the MP

The criminal proceedings are being investigated by the SBU in Odesa region under the article on cooperation. According to the investigation, one of the key defendants is the owner of Dom-Agro Agricultural Industrial Company LLC, registered in Kakhovka.

According to the YouControl analytical system, the founders of the company include Ivan Izbash from Odesa and the Cypriot company Atofa Ventures Limited. The ultimate beneficial owner is Natalia Fursina from Kyiv, who also controls a Cyprus offshore company.

The main activity of the company is the production of flour and cereal products, and the authorized capital amounted to UAH 80 million.

As Intent wrote, at the end of 2025, the court granted investigators permission to conduct investigative actions in the case of a possible conspiracy by the owners of Dom-Agro Agricultural Industrial Company LLC to continue the company's operation after the occupation of part of the Kherson region.

Earlier, law enforcement officers had already gained access to the documents and property of the company, which is now owned by the mother of a member of the Odesa Regional Council and former MP Ivan Fursin. At the time of the full-scale invasion, the politician himself was among the final beneficiaries.

The investigation believes that after the seizure of the Kakhovka community, the company did not stop working, but continued to operate in accordance with the requirements of the occupation authorities. The case file states that in February 2023, the company was registered under Russian law. Law enforcement officers consider this to be business with representatives of the occupation administration.

From Kakhovka to Cyprus

A separate area of investigation concerns financial transactions. According to the SBU, Ukrainian banks and electronic payment services were used to transfer funds. In particular, investigators found that in June 2022, one of the suspects transferred UAH 100 thousand to another participant in the scheme. Law enforcement officers assume that electronic payment systems could have been used to conceal the payments.

The case file also includes the Cypriot company Atofa Ventures Limited, which, according to the investigation, was used to control the agricultural business in Kakhovka. This structure could be an element of the asset management system that continued to operate after the occupation of the territory.

Reservation from mobilization and foreign business trips

In the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers came across the Ukrainian Match Factory LLC in Rivne region. According to the SBU, the owner of the agricultural business allegedly controlled the company through his daughter, and he worked there as a deputy director.

Investigators are checking the version that employment at the factory could have been used to make reservations for mobilization and obtain grounds for traveling abroad during martial law.

On May 26, 2026, searches were conducted on the company's premises. Law enforcement officers seized employment contracts, personnel orders, military registration documents, lists of persons liable for military service, materials on employee reservations, orders for foreign business trips, copies of passports, and other documents. Among them were papers related to the defendant's employment in 2024 and his dismissal in the spring of 2026.

The court recognized that the seized materials could be of evidentiary value for criminal proceedings and seized them. This means a ban on the use, alienation or disposal of documents until the investigation is completed.

The pre-trial investigation is currently ongoing. Law enforcers are checking the connections between the companies, the movement of funds, business activities in the occupied territory, and the possible use of Ukrainian companies to cover up work under the control of the Russian occupation authorities.

Also in May, in Mykolaiv, a court took into custody a man suspected of running an agribusiness in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region and cooperating with Russia. According to the investigation, after re-registration under Russian law, the company paid taxes to the budget of the aggressor country.

Анна Бальчінос