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Following the seizure of the "Pentopak" factory from Russian oligarch Ivan Savvidi and its sale at auction, the owner of the production facilities changed. However, behind the formal change of beneficiaries lies a significantly more complex financial network, involving investment funds, Cypriot holding companies and the business structures of financier Mykola Sushko.
Private Joint-Stock Company "Pentopak", located at 5 Brovarska Street in Boryspil, previously belonged to the Cypriot company Kosteram Holdings Ltd, whose ultimate beneficiary was Kyriaki Savvidi. In February 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) confiscated this asset. On 9–10 June 2024, the factory was sold at a repeat auction for UAH 103.1 million, whereas the starting price at the first auction was UAH 203.7 million.
The sole participant and winner of the auction was Limited Liability Company "Lonikos", registered at a mass registration address in Kyiv. At that time, its beneficiary was Larysa Ashkynazi from Dnipro. Currently, "Pentopak" is 100% owned by Joint-Stock Company "ZNVKIF Sterling" (registration number 44389319), and Liliia Mykhailivna Pionova from Dnipro is listed as the ultimate beneficiary with a 100% stake. In 2024, the factory's revenue amounted to UAH 210.6 million, and its staff numbered 184 people. Criminal proceedings related to the company have been opened in the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv under case numbers 757/61314/24, 757/16915/25 and 757/19133/25.
The Sterling Fund was registered on 26 May 2021 with a charter capital of UAH 130 million. Among the removed beneficiaries of the structure are Andrii Zhurzhii (former national MP from the Self-Help party, founder of Inzhur) and Mykola Sushko. Liliia Pionova was later added to the list. The first founder of the fund was Management Company "Investment Partners", which is linked to Zhurzhii. The fund's managers at various times included Dakhovnyk, Syzonenko, Yehor Savchenko and Drobytko.
The fund's registered addresses have changed multiple times: from Velyka Zhytomyrska Street to Amosova, then Zhylianska 68, Feodosiyskyi Lane 12 (office 121A), and finally to the address of the factory itself in Boryspil. In 2021, a major shareholder of the fund (5.76%) was the Cypriot SM Seven Green Holding Ltd, registered in Larnaca at Linda Court. This company is part of Sushko's business group.
Data verification revealed that "Sterling" was integrated into Sushko's cluster of funds, rather than being an isolated structure. Together with the "Lira" and "Diona" funds, it was among the founders of Limited Liability Company "SM Progress Development" (44253799). This Kyiv-based development company is currently 100% owned by the Cypriot SM Seven Green Development Ltd, whose ultimate beneficiary is Sushko.
The "Lira" Fund (43589133) has the same office at Feodosiyskyi Lane 12, 121A, the same manager Yehor Savchenko and the same beneficiary — Sushko. The "Diona" Fund is serviced by Management Company "Univer" at Zhylianska 68, where "Sterling" was also previously registered. Thus, the fund in which Sushko was listed as the ultimate beneficiary and which invested in his development projects later ended up in the hands of Liliia Pionova. Through this structure, she acquired ownership of Savvidi's confiscated factory. In December 2024, "Sterling" also founded Limited Liability Company "Pentopak Ukraine" (45759853) at the factory's address.
A key open question remains the date when Mykola Sushko was removed from the list of beneficiaries of "Sterling". It is known that Pionova purchased the factory in June 2024, while the ownership structure of "Pentopak" via "Sterling" is dated 27 November 2024.
Mykola Sushko also figures among the removed beneficiaries of Joint-Stock Company "ZNVKIF City Invest Development" (43296009). Together with him, Taras Kozak (owner of Management Company "Univer Management", which holds 41.49% of the fund), Mykhailo Korzh and Andrii Popov are listed in this status. Currently, the ultimate beneficiary and manager of the fund is Dmytro Strizhov.
Data on large shareholdings for 2020–2021 indicates that the owner of 41.48% of this fund was the Cypriot SM Seven Green Holding Ltd. In 2024, the fund's assets dropped sharply from UAH 87.4 million to UAH 2.2 million, with a loss of UAH 85.2 million. The fund is subject to criminal case 461/8653/24 in the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv and commercial case 914/1683/23.
Dmytro Strizhov founded the security holding "Sheriff". In 2015–2019, he was an MP of the Kyiv City Council from the Self-Help party, and on 18 December 2019, he prematurely resigned his mandate. Media reported on proceedings by the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Economic Security Bureau and the police regarding possible damages during the security of State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" facilities under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code. An old case regarding "Kyivteploenergo", closed in 2022 due to the statute of limitations, was also mentioned. The "Sheriff" holding itself claims to have been a victim of groundless cases and won eight of them.
Mykola Sushko owns the company SFORS, which engages in proprietary trading (trading US stocks with company funds) with a focus on pre-market. SFORS claims to have over 600 employees and a daily turnover of up to $2 billion, but there is no independent confirmation of these figures. The Cypriot legal entity of SFORS is SM Seven Green Trading Ltd, whose director is Dana Abeltina.
The regulated element of the group is Statok Ltd (HE 368152, formerly SMSG Limited, since 2017). The company holds CySEC licence 403/21 and operates in the EU, UAE and Ukrainian markets. Among its directors are Mykola Sushko, Serhiy Matviychuk, Roman Bilych, as well as Cypriots Andreas Xenofontos and Gavriil Styllas. The presence of a CySEC licence makes Sushko vulnerable, as the regulator assesses the business reputation (fit and proper) of managers, and any proven proximity to sanctioned or confiscated Russian assets creates regulatory risks.
In Cyprus, SM Seven Green Holding and SM Seven Green Development (Larnaca), Smartercorp Ltd and Pine Software also operate. In Dubai — Equistream Trading DMCC, in the DIFC financial centre — ST Solutions Ltd.
In the United Kingdom, according to Companies House data, Sushko is the owner of 2055 LTD (established in 2024, education sector), GRAINITY LTD (formerly AGRO CHAIN LTD, grain wholesale trade, 2025, stake over 75%) and SUSHKO LTD (travel agency, liquidated in March 2025). The presence of a grain company in the biography of a stock trader remains an unresolved question.
The development project in Cyprus is Smartland in the village of Pyla near Larnaca, which includes 36 villas worth €50 million. The project was presented with the participation of Cyprus Minister of the Interior Konstantinos Ioannou and Ambassador Nymchynskyi. Since Pyla is a mixed Greek-Turkish village in the UN buffer zone, the legal status of the land and permits requires separate verification.
In Ukraine, registries show a branched network of companies with the "SM" prefix. Sushko is listed as the beneficiary of Charitable Organization "Smart Impact", Joint-Stock Company "Lira", Limited Liability Company "SM Capital" (in the process of liquidation), "SM Time Resort Development", "SM Prostir", "SM West Development", "SM Progress Development", "Prof Insight", "Zenit Development", "Skovoroda Capital", "Kozpromiks", "Meeting Hub" and the Mnozhyna Foundation.
Through "SM Prostir", the group is linked to OK "Lypynskoho 36". The "Lira" Fund owns 10% of Limited Liability Company "Prom.Capital" (Ivano-Frankivsk), while the remaining 90% belongs to Limited Liability Company "Promprylad.Holding" — the operator of the impact project for the renovation of the "Promprylad" factory. "Lira"'s assets show sharp fluctuations: UAH 134.1 million in 2023, UAH 10.1 million in 2024 and UAH 114.5 million in 2025. The source of these funds and the direction of their use is not visible from open data.
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