This became known from an investigation: "Hundreds of millions missing from the country’s budget: law enforcement is investigating how MP Shapovalov assisted his business partner in tax evasion."

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According to law enforcement, an organized group has been operating in the Poltava region for several years, and its members have been informed of suspicions regarding large-scale tax evasion.

The main organizer of this scheme is Kremenchuk businessman Vitaliy Marchenko, who is the founder of several companies: LLC "Energoresurs," LLC "Tsentrogad Kremenchug," LLC "Alpha Group 77." Additionally, he controls a group of companies known as "VM-Group." This corruption scheme existed from 2019 to 2023 with the help of a member of parliament and local authorities in Kremenchuk. Law enforcement established that Marchenko entered into a criminal conspiracy with MP of the 9th convocation from the "For the Future" party, Yuriy Shapovalov, and the mayor of Kremenchuk, Vitaliy Maletsky, who is also a member of this party,” the investigation states.

The individuals managing these companies acted in collusion with representatives of Latvian firms (SIA Euro Energo Company, Dinaz Holding, Dinazis), whose owners have ties to the Russian Federation. Using controlled enterprises, they imported excise goods — methanol, disguising it as solvents through European countries (specifically, via shell companies in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Latvia).

“The scheme worked as follows: methanol was transported by rail from Russia and Belarus to fuel depots in European countries. Using forged documents regarding the origin of the products, under Marchenko's guidance, the enterprises imported excise goods into Ukraine. They were then delivered to warehouses in Kremenchuk, where methanol was used for illegal fuel production,” the authors explain.

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According to the investigation, Yuriy Shapovalov, Vitaliy Maletsky, and Vitaliy Marchenko, due to familial ties, managed to establish an entire "family network" that appropriates a significant portion of Kremenchuk’s budget.

Thus, Shapovalov, leveraging his corrupt connections, including with Kremenchuk’s mayor Maletsky (who is Marchenko's godfather), assisted enterprises from Marchenko's "VM-Group" in winning tenders for the supply of petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel fuel for the municipal enterprise "Blagoustriy Kremenchuka."

“In 2023-2024, LLC "Azarес" signed 35 contracts with this municipal enterprise for a total of 15 million UAH. According to the tender documentation, Azarес was supposed to supply A-95 gasoline produced by Kremenchuk Oil Refinery and diesel fuel produced by Helenic Petroleum (Greece). However, the company supplied fuel of its own production, which, of course, did not meet quality and standard requirements,” the authors explain.