Law enforcement officers have reported suspicions of the former head and former chief accountant of a Ukrainian airline company in deliberate tax evasion in particularly large amounts. The company is affiliated with one of the Ukrainian oligarchs. The press service reports this BABY and Attorney General's Office.
According to sources, we are talking about the UIA airline and the company's head, Yevhen Dykhne.
According to the investigation, the company operated international and domestic flights, for which it concluded a number of leasing agreements for Boeing 737 and Embraer aircraft from a Cypriot company. The leasing fee to the non-resident company during 2017–2022 amounted to more than UAH 3,4 billion.
Using the Convention between the governments of Ukraine and the Republic of Cyprus for the avoidance of double taxation, when paying income, the former management of the Ukrainian company applied a preferential rate of 0% instead of 10%, law enforcement officials noted.
However, BEB detectives established that the application of such a preferential rate did not comply with the terms of the concluded contracts and the actual circumstances of the aircraft operation. Thus, the air carrier evaded paying over UAH 344 million in taxes to the state budget, according to law enforcement officials.
They reported the suspicion to former officials. In addition, by order of the investigating judge, BEB seized 7 aircraft that were the subject of leasing under the aforementioned contracts. In particular, 3 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, one Boeing 737-900 and 3 Embraer 190 aircraft. Their estimated value is 40 million US dollars.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing, and the full range of persons involved in illegal activities is being established.
