"The Smuggling King" achieved his goal: how Vadim Alperin took control of the assets of PAO "MPO ORION" in Odessa.

The notorious businessman, who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by President Zelensky, employed various tactics to seize the property of the plant, including privileged relationships with employees of the State Property Fund and law enforcement officials in the Odessa region.

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This time, Alperin's scheme to acquire shares of PJSC "Orion" at an auction held by the State Property Fund unfolded in a familiar manner, just as in 2022—by involving biased and Alperin-controlled companies in the auction. If in 2022 the auction was disrupted by these companies under the slogans "let it not go to anyone, or to me for a pittance," this time, it seems, Alperin decided to pay 120 million UAH and finally acquire 50% of the shares from the SPFU.

A retrospective of the preliminary stages of Alperin's scheme to seize "Orion"

The auction announced by the SPFU for the sale of the share package on December 23, 2022, for PJSC "MPO Orion" was effectively sabotaged by Alperin's companies, as the eventual winner refused to sign the purchase agreement for the shares. Specifically, on December 23, 2022, the winner of the auction was LLC "Kurortny," whose director and ultimate beneficial owner is Iovanova Evgenia Alexandrovna, a relative of Alperin. LLC "Kurortny" did not pay the required amount and refused to sign the purchase agreement. Thus, as of early 2023, "Orion" "did not belong to anyone."

On the eve of the auction, Alperin leveraged his privileged connections with law enforcement officials in the Odessa region, pressuring the plant's management and potential buyers by threatening them with criminal cases and searches. Consequently, at the "behind-the-scenes" order of Vadim Alperin, and with the aim of sabotaging the privatization of "Orion," law enforcement officials preemptively initiated a criminal case on December 12, 2022. Within this case, searches were conducted at the premises of the management, the enterprise itself, and among potential auction participants. This criminal case was later used to undermine the privatization in the future.

The next auctions scheduled for February 6 and 24, 2023, did not take place as they were canceled based on a letter from law enforcement sent to the SPFU. The letter demanded the cancellation of the auctions specifically due to the prior opening of a criminal case two months earlier. The behavior of law enforcement officials is especially outrageous—they willingly exceeded their authority at Alperin's request and openly interfered in the privatization process of PJSC MPO "Orion."

Continuing the scheme to seize PJSC MPO "Orion," the SPFU, under Alperin's influence, initiated a shareholders' meeting in November 2023 instead of holding an auction. The goal was to establish management controlled by Alperin. For unclear reasons, the agenda of this meeting included a question about terminating the powers of the acting chairman of the board and electing a new chairman—Kushneruk Vladimir. The so-called new candidate, Kushneruk V., is connected to Krush Igor Borisovich, who, in turn, has strong ties to the "king of smuggling," Alperin.

Moreover, during the preparations for this general meeting, the organizer from the State Property Fund of Ukraine grossly violated the rights of other shareholders. Furthermore, on the day of the general meeting on November 24, 2023, a search was conducted on a shareholder who owned a significant package of voting shares and was capable of influencing decisions regarding "Orion." The aim was to hinder the shareholder from voting for a change in management to the "right" leadership of Alperin.

Despite the violations of legislation, the protocol of the extraordinary general meeting of PJSC MPO "Orion" was signed, resulting in Kushneruk Vladimir Ivanovich becoming the head, while the supervisory board was composed of individuals Bondar M., Fokin S., and Pozdnyakov O., who are directly connected with Kushneruk and Alperin.

The final part of Alperin's long-term scheme to seize the assets of "Orion" was the auction for the sale of shares on September 5, 2024, where, at the last moment, three relatively young LLCs with a charter capital of no more than 450 thousand UAH registered, but with a quite aggressive offer to acquire shares of "Orion" for millions of UAH.

In typical Vadim Alperin fashion, the auction was conducted through companies that were previously controlled by Alperin.

In August 2024, the SPFU again announced an auction for the sale of 50% of the shares of "Orion" with a starting offer of 4 million 385 thousand UAH. The submission of bids for participation in the auction began on August 14, and the deadline for submitting bids was set for September 4 at 20:00. By midday on September 4, four LLCs had registered as auction participants, but literally at the last minute, at 19:59, three new LLC participants appeared almost simultaneously:

• at 19:59:08 – LLC "Garant Fa LTD"
• at 19:59:12 – LLC "Trade Max Company"
• at 19:59:14 – LLC "Meiship Curry," which the next day would become the auction winner with a bid of 120,000,002 UAH.

All three companies are relatively "young": LLC "Garant Fa LTD" was registered in 2020 with a charter capital of 200,000 UAH, LLC "Trade Max Company" in 2023 with a charter capital of 300,000 UAH, and LLC "Meiship Curry" in 2022 with a charter capital of 450,000 UAH.

Ultimately, the auction winner became "Meiship Curry," which, as a legal entity registered two years ago with a charter capital of 450,000 UAH, announced its intention to acquire 50% of the shares for 120 million UAH and, moreover, paid 120 million and signed the purchase agreement.

Thus, it becomes clear that Vadim Alperin initially used his privileged connections with law enforcement officials and SPFU officials and for several years attempted to illegally seize the "Orion" enterprise. He employed all possible means to carry out his criminal and selfish intentions through corrupt officials.

Finally, in the third year of the full-scale war in the country, the notorious businessman Alperin mustered the courage to pay 120 million UAH for 50% of the shares of PJSC MPO "Orion." What fate awaits the hectare of land in the center of Odessa under the control of the "king of smuggling" will be revealed in time. And in what exact form he "rewarded" officials to participate in the scheme remains an open question.