Olena Sosedka and the scheme to siphon millions from Ukrgazbank to Austria

According to data from the BlackBox OSINT investigation, Olena Sosedka travelled abroad 26 times over the three years of the full-scale war. She most frequently visited Switzerland, and also went to France, Italy, Israel (where her sister Yulia resides) and Austria.

Austria plays a special role in her life — not only do her children live there, but her former partner Serhiy Dovhaliuk also works there. He was linked to a number of Austrian companies with a direct connection to the Concord banking group.

The Austrian trail: business interests and banking operations

Dovhaliuk previously headed the associated entity "Industrial and Financial Group Concord", and at various times served as managing director of the liquidated Austrian companies Concord Engineering GmbH, APS Power Technology GmbH and Concord Solutions Lab GmbH. These firms are linked to Concord bank and the Sosedka sisters.

One of the key structures in the scheme was the Ukrainian limited liability company "Bio Energy Dnipro", whose founder was APS Power Technology GmbH. In 2018, Olena Sosedka provided mortgage security for a loan obtained by this company from Ukrgazbank. The funds were intended for the construction of a biogas power plant. However, the project was never realised, and the loan, according to BlackBox OSINT data, was not repaid.

Millions that ended up in Austria

According to court documents, by 2022 the debt of "Bio Energy Dnipro" to Ukrgazbank had reached almost EUR 3.4 million. The court ordered the debt to be recovered from the company's assets, but their value at that time was only UAH 18 million (approximately EUR 493,000), which is almost seven times less than the loan amount.

Part of the funds (USD 100,000) was transferred in November 2019 to the account of Concord Solutions Lab GmbH, which is controlled by Sosedka. Presumably, the rest of the money met the same fate.

Ultimately, the court prohibited "Bio Energy Dnipro" from constructing the biogas plant, confirming the misuse of EUR 3 million and its non-repayment to the bank.

The legal trail and the capital flight expert

Another interesting fact: in 2016–2018, the director of APS Power Technology GmbH and Concord Solutions Lab GmbH was listed as Alexandre Egger — the lawyer for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov at the European Court of Human Rights. There is a high probability that he may have been involved in organising the transfer of state bank funds abroad.

It is not ruled out that Olena Sosedka, using her influence in the banking sector and international connections, may have participated in financial schemes to move money from Ukraine to Austria.

According to information from Chorna Skrynya BlackBOX