Kyiv court releases head of Ukrtransmist from criminal liability for unpaid VAT

Court ruling regarding the head of the construction company

The Pecherskyy District Court of Kyiv issued a ruling releasing Iryna Filiyeva from criminal liability. The woman, who holds the position of general director of Ukrtransmist LLC, was suspected of evading payment of value added tax (VAT) in particularly large amounts. Her actions were qualified under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The proceedings were closed on non-rehabilitating grounds, which implies an admission of guilt but release from punishment due to the fulfilment of certain conditions.

Details of the tax violation

According to the case materials, in August 2025, budgetary funds totalling 141 million hryvnias, including VAT, were received into the account of Ukrtransmist LLC at JSC KB Globus. On 18 September 2025, Filiyeva submitted the tax declaration for August to the Central Interregional Directorate of the State Tax Service for work with large taxpayers. The document did not reflect the aforementioned receipts, resulting in undeclared tax liabilities of 23.5 million hryvnias.

According to the investigation, this led to non-receipt of funds by the budget in particularly large amounts. The sum exceeded the non-taxable minimum income of citizens by more than 7,000 times.

Circumstances of the case and admission of guilt

During the court hearing, Iryna Filiyeva fully acknowledged the factual circumstances of the case and the qualification of her actions. She stated that she has worked as a director since 2019. Officially, she has held the position of general director since 1 October 2021. The head of the company explained that the violation occurred by mistake, as she had not checked the declaration before submitting it. Filiyeva expressed remorse and promised that such an incident would not happen again.

The defence confirmed that all damages caused to the budget had been compensated even before the notification of suspicion. On 23 June, a prosecutor of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office filed a motion with the court to release the suspect from criminal liability under Part 4 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This provision provides for mandatory release if the person paid taxes and compensated for the damage caused by their late payment before being held liable.

Financial indicators and company activities

The court established that Ukrtransmist LLC paid 23.52 million hryvnias in VAT. This is confirmed by payment instructions from JSC KB Globus and AB Pivdennyi dated 5 and 16 January 2026. As of 14 September 2026, the company had no tax debt.

Ukrtransmist LLC specialises in the construction of bridges and tunnels (Economic Activity Code 42.13). Between 2021 and 2025, the company carried out works for the Service for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure in Mykolaiv Oblast. Specifically, this involved the capital repair of roads and bridges, protection of critical infrastructure objects in the fuel and energy sector, and design work. The total value of the contracts concluded exceeded 1.36 billion hryvnias, of which over 227 million was VAT.

Ownership history and business connections

The company was registered in Kyiv in 2006. The charter fund is 8.9 million hryvnias. Iryna Karnakova is listed as the founder, and Iryna Filiyeva as the director. Previously, the owner of the enterprise was Mykola Karnakov, and it was headed by Ihor Karnakov. Before moving to the capital, both were registered at the same address in Donetsk.

In 2018, Ihor Karnakov acted as a signatory for Shlyakhove Budivnytstvo Altcom LLC. This enterprise is part of the Altcom business group, linked to Donetsk businessman Oleksandr Tislenko. The company Altcom most actively utilised budgetary funds during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych and the preparations for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.