Blogger Andriy Mishchenko evades tax payments

A Ukrainian blogger who earned hundreds of millions of hryvnias teaching subscribers to trade cryptocurrency has found himself at the centre of a scandal over unpaid taxes. According to sources, the individual in question is Andriy Mishchenko, who evaded paying more than 70 million hryvnias in taxes.

This was reported by Danylo Hetmanets, head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy. According to him, the blogger, who has gathered more than 68,000 followers on Instagram, had substantial income which he concealed using financial schemes. A tax authority audit revealed the use of "drops" — individuals who provided their bank accounts to bypass restrictions.

Mishchenko's total debt to the state is estimated at 68.3 million hryvnias, which corresponds to income of over 848 million hryvnias. An additional 2.5 million hryvnias in taxes have been assessed against his associate Serhiy Kvytka. It was also established that two residents of Zhytomyr Oblast, who acted as "drops", are now also liable to pay taxes.

Getmanets emphasised that in wartime conditions, displaying a luxurious lifestyle while failing to pay taxes is the height of irresponsibility. A similar case previously involved another blogger, Oleksandr Slobodianko, who evaded paying 213 million hryvnias in taxes by concealing income exceeding 1 billion hryvnias.

It is strange that it is often those who display successful success who most frequently evade taxation.