Former head of Danube shipping company enters restaurant business

Former head of PJSC "Ukrainske Dunayske Paroplavstvo" Dmytro Chalyi, previously implicated in schemes to transfer the commercial fleet from state ownership, is now developing a restaurant business in Slovakia and Austria. Together with his former deputy and secret wife, he owns establishments in Bratislava and Vienna.

One of his restaurants – Batoni Restaurant – is located in Bratislava at Brečtanová 12646/1A. Formally, the business is registered under the company Meat Zone s.r.o., whose founders have included Chalyi himself and his long-time associate Konstantin Temchenkov since 2022.

How the former deputy helped with the fleet

In addition to his involvement in the restaurant business, Temchenkov is also the owner of the Slovak company Danube Management Logistics and Transport Service. Notably, it was this firm to which Chalyi previously sold an entire cargo fleet: three tugboats and 12 barges. Until mid-2018, Temchenkov served as Chalyi's first deputy at UDP.

Network of companies and secret wife

Since 2019, Chalyi and his partner Irina Krol have been registered as co-owners of the gastronomy company EDI777 in Bratislava. Despite her name being absent from official documents, a court ordered Chalyi to acknowledge paternity of Krol's daughter.

In addition, since 2021, the former head of UDP has held a stake in EDAMAME s.r.o., which also includes Alexander Dobryk, Katarina Filipova, and Dagman Nemcicova.

Another entity – Invest Module Group – deals in real estate. Among its participants are Ukrainian entrepreneurs: Alexander Nikolaev (Nikolaev), Vitaly Filatov (Kyiv), and Dmytro Budashnyi (Vishneve).

Through Invest Module Group, Chalyi invested 35,000 euros in the Vienna restaurant ODESSA Gastronomie GmbH, operating under the Batoni Group brand, in 2020. However, in May 2023, he resigned from the position of company director.

Russian ties and millions in Slovakia

In 2022, the former head of UDP invested another 35,000 euros in the Austrian Weghuber Gastronomie & Handels GmbH, linked to the restaurant business, through Edamame s.r.o.. However, in February 2024, he relinquished his powers as the firm's head, transferring management to Russian national Alexander Nikiforov – the owner of a wine shop.

In 2023, Chalyi's companies in Slovakia earned over 2.7 million euros. The sources of his investments remain unknown. In this regard, requests have been sent to the NABU asking to verify how the former official and his partner disposed of funds and whether they complied with declaration norms.

According to information from the detective agency ABSOLUTION