The records show that Trukhanov in fact controls a substantial business empire in Ukraine through companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a notorious offshore jurisdiction often used in Ukraine by politicians and criminals. His interests include land plots, construction of offices and apartments, and road construction projects paid for from the state budget.

One of the biggest leaks in journalistic history reveals the secretive offshore companies used to hide wealth, evade taxes and commit fraud by the world's dictators, business tycoons and criminals.

The 11.5 million documents contain details of the hidden offshore empires of presidents and dictators, tax dodgers and wealthy people, civil servants and organized crime figures from around the world.

The Panama Papers are confidential business records of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, obtained by Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German publication, and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Yet according to the Panama Papers, Trukhanov is a veritable titan of business.

Kyivshliakhbud is a private company with offices located in the industrial area of Kyiv, amid many warehouses and production facilities.

Throughout 2015, the Kyiv Mayor’s Office paid a total of 151 million hryvnia (US$ 9.6 million) to Kyivshliakhbud for repair of roads in the capital, despite the fact Kyivshliakhbud had been caught stealing state funds before.

Back in September of 2012, the Kyiv Mayor’s Office hired Kyivshliakhbud to lay asphalt in one of the city’s residential areas. The company got the money but, according to court records from a pre-trial investigation, never did the work. Instead, it allegedly transferred the state funds to a series of intermediary companies from which the money disappeared completely.

Three criminal investigations were launched, two of which have not been closed according to court records. So it was not surprising that OCCRP reporters couldn’t find the company’s office at its officially registered address. “There is no such company here,” security guards told them.

The address is used by Kyivshliakhbud in all documents, including the state register and tender documentation. Calling the road-repair contractor’s phone number didn’t work either.

But Kyivshliakhbud is actually connected to Odesa’s mayor through a complex set of relationships. Kyivshliakhbud was founded by a BVI-registered company, Sawyer and Branton Ltd.

The Ukrainian company registry lists this offshore as a majority shareholder of the Odesa-based Rost Investment Group Ltd. Trukhanov’s daughter, Kateryna, was listed as the director of SKVO LLC, one of the companies in the Rost group, until May 12.

SKVO’s founder, Andriy Ivancho, shows up as a shareholder along with Trukhanov in a number of BVI companies found in the Panama Papers.

According to Ukraine’s court records, SKVO is one of the companies that is being investigated for allegedly siphoning the money Kyivshliakhbud received from the 2012 state procurement deal.

The tallest building in Odesa

Kyivshliakhbud’s chief executive officer is Oleksandr Rashchupkin, who also heads Panteon-Yuh LLC, registered in Odesa at 1a Henuezka St. That’s the location of Ark-Palace, one of the most expensive apartment and office buildings in the city, which can be seen from almost any place in Odesa. One of its towers, a 24-story edifice of 106 meters, is the tallest building in Odesa.

An average apartment of 180 square meters here goes for about US$ 750,000. Some apartments sell for as much as US$ 3.5 million.

This real estate complex was built by the Rost Investment Group.

Many companies associated with Trukhanov are registered at Ark-Palace, 1a Henuezka, and some own space in the building. For instance, Vynni Tradytsiyi LLC (Wine Traditions), a company registered as a wine producer and leaser of real estate, owns almost 350 square meters of basement space in the building.

Vynni Tradytsiyi was founded and is still part-owned by Macon Assets Ltd., which is registered in BVI. According to the Panama Papers documents, this offshore was founded by Trukhanov and Ivancho as equal partners on Aug. 31, 2004. In BVI documents Trukhanov is referred to as the owner registered in Russia, not in Ukraine: “Moscow region, city of Sergiev Posad, 5 Parkova St.”

OCCRP partners in Russia visited the address. The building where Trukhanov is registered is an old, private house with a wooden facade painted green. It seems unlikely that a businessman who, together with his partners, owns a network of companies linked to BVI offshores has ever lived here. Apparently, Trukhanov uses this old house as a formal Russian address.

In 2014, Volodymyr Ariev, a Ukrainian Member of Parliament, published records from Russia’s migration authorities showing that Trukhanov held a Russian passport. The documents showed that on March 24, 2011, Trukhanov obtained a replacement passport required at the age of 45 from the Sergiev Posad branch office (the same town as his address of convenience listed in the Panama Papers).

Trukhanov denies he is a Russian citizen, calling it a provocation by political opponents. However, when OCCRP asked for a comment on the issue, Trukhanov refused to answer directly.

“He has denied it so many times already that he does not see any point in doing that again,” said his press secretary, Natalia Maltseva.

On April 27, three weeks after the local version of this story was broadcast in Ukraine, Trukhanov responded to a Slidtsvo.info reporter at a press conference in Odesa. He promised to publish all the documents he requested from the Russian consulate general “with all the explanations” “today or tomorrow.” On May 18, Trukhanov published on Facebook a letter dated April 14 from the Russian Consulate in Odesa stating that he “has not acquired Russian citizenship” and “is not a Russian citizen.” OCCRP could not verify this information.

🔗 Transcript of Call to Kyivshliakhbud Reporter: Hello, is this Kyivshliakhbud?

Woman: Yes.

Reporter: Where are you located?

Woman: In Kyiv, at Naberezhno-Korchuvatska street ….

Reporter: We have just come back from the place, nobody has seen you there.

(A long pause)… Woman: Well, our subsidiary is located there… But we are actually located in Odesa.

Reporter: … So are you an Odesa company?

Woman: Yes.

Reporter: May I speak to (chief executive officer) Rashchupkin then?

(Woman dials the CEO but nobody picks up a phone)…

Woman: What do you want to inquire about?

Reporter: About your company’s participation in tenders…

Woman: I will transfer you to a lawyer.

(When the journalist explains the call is about road construction tenders in Kyiv, the lawyer hangs up the phone. The reporter calls back)…



Lawyer: And who are you? A journalist? No, we do not want to respond to surveys.



Construction projects for any taste and wallet