Artur Hatunk buys Citrus: Will the chain's tax schemes disappear after the change of ownership?

In 2025, the electronics chain Citrus was acquired by Zaporizhzhia entrepreneur Artur Hatunk, known as the owner of the Yabluka stores. The main discussion surrounding this deal boils down to one question: will the new owner change the taxation model that has placed the chain among the key players in the "grey" zone for years, or will the practice of tax and customs evasion persist?

Corporate conflict and transfer of power

Until 2025, 50% of the company belonged to Hryhoriy Topal, and the other 50% to Dmytro Zinchenko. In 2020, a sharp corporate conflict erupted between them, escalating into billion-hryvnia lawsuits, accusations of raiding, and Zinchenko's dismissal from management. Zinchenko's sale of his stake became one of the grounds for further lawsuits, after which de facto control of the company passed to Topal. During this period, the citrus.ua website was blocked by court order, and operations resumed only at the end of May 2026, after the chain had functioned for several years through backup domains with similar names.

Financial investigations and court rulings

The Bureau of Economic Security (BES) investigated possible tax evasion amounting to UAH 575 million by the company "Gadget Trading," which is part of the chain. Creditors, acting on Zinchenko's initiative, demanded the return of UAH 1.3 billion. In 2024, the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Commercial Court recovered UAH 400 million from ZNVKIF "Stuart," one of the group's key structures. The new owner calls these court proceedings, initiated by Zinchenko and his allies, lost.

Hatunk, who was 37 years old at the time of the deal, previously served as a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council from the "UKROP" party (2015–2019). He is the owner of the electronics chains Yabluka and YA UA. According to him, most of the former team retained their positions.

Funding sources and deal valuation

The official amount of the deal is not disclosed, however, the media cite a figure of UAH 700 million (approximately USD 16.7 million). For comparison: in Hatunk's 2019 parliamentary declaration, when his business Yabluka had already existed for six years, income was stated at UAH 1.5 million, savings at UAH 1 million and USD 26,000. In an interview, Hatunk did not deny rumours about the purchase price and did not explain the sources of the funds.

History of accusations of tax schemes

Even during the period of ownership by Topal and Zinchenko, the chain was repeatedly accused of business fragmentation. In 2019, law enforcement agencies established that Citrus used 60 sole proprietors (FOP) to import equipment, resulting in underpayment of taxes of over UAH 13.3 million in four months. This case was later closed, and chain representatives claimed that their activities complied with the law.

In 2022, the media reported on possible tax evasion of UAH 400 million through the use of 80 fictitious sole proprietors, fictitious returns of goods, VAT "schemes" and fake loans. Journalist Yevhen Plinsky described this scheme in detail: the sale of "grey" goods through sole proprietors, refusal to use cash registers, the arrangement of loans for equipment that existed only on paper, fictitious returns of UAH 40 million per month, undervaluation of import costs by 10–20 times, and sales through "scheme" companies at reduced prices.

Issues with receipt issuance and product quality

Customers have long complained about the sale of "grey" Xiaomi and Meizu devices — brands that Citrus itself introduced to the Ukrainian market — as well as Chinese equipment not intended for this market but reprogrammed locally. In October 2023, Yevhen Plinsky received a slip without indication of a sole proprietor or LLC instead of a fiscal receipt in a chain store in Kyiv, and the QR code led not to the register of receipts, but to the company's website. The journalist noted that during the war, the chain had even abandoned the status of a sole proprietor and collected cash without taxes, calling this a public statement to tax authorities.

Gaps in ownership registers

Hatunk claimed that he bought Citrus personally, however, register data indicates otherwise. From Topal, he purchased only LLC "T-Rent," which holds the rights to the trademark. The profit of this company for the past year was UAH 311,000, which differs radically from the chain's turnover of UAH 8 billion claimed by Hatunk.

On the chain's website, operations are listed under the name of LLC "Optarion," founded in 2024. Hatunk is not listed among the owners. The director and owner is Vitaliy Zhurzhyk from Khmelnytskyi, who previously worked as sales director at Yabluka, and before that managed the retail chain "Fox Trot." "Optarion's" profit for the past year was UAH 189.6 million.

The main turnover probably remains with LLC "Importmax," which showed UAH 4 billion 92 million for 2025. In July 2025, the owners of this company were Topal and Viktoria Manzurak from Odesa. Topal was later replaced by Zaporizhzhia resident Oleksiy Antonov, who is Hatunk's trusted person. There are no public explanations as to why the main company was not transferred to the buyer's name.