Kyiv courts delay transfer of Alperin’s tobacco lines to ARMA - Journalist Plinskyi
Kyiv courts are not ruling on the transfer of the seized property of a tobacco company from the sphere of influence of smuggler Vadym Alperin.
This was reported by journalist Yevhen Plinskyi on Telegram, Censor.NET reports.
According to him, Alperin's "tobacco sphere of influence" includes cigarette manufacturer Orion Tobacco LLC and a pool of several related companies, including Agroprimeinvest LLC, Davos Group LLC, Niz Invest LLC, Summerston Tobacco LLC, Southern Tobacco Company LLC, and others.
"Back in 2022, Orion Tobacco's production facilities were searched and cigarette production equipment and about a million packs of Golden Mark Original, Golden Mark Extra, Zapal jazz, Zapal blues, RED WINS 6, RED WINS 8 with fake excise stamps were seized. After these searches, the director of Orion Tobacco went on the lam, was put on the wanted list, found, and sent to a pre-trial detention center. And the prosecutors filed a motion to transfer the seized tobacco lines to the ARMA," Plinskyi said.
However, the journalist noted that in January 2024, Shevchenkivskyi Court Judge Vitalii Tsytkich granted the motion of Davos Group LLC, which actually owns the equipment used by Orion Tobacco LLC, and canceled the seizure of the equipment and its transfer to the ARMA.
Thus, "the tobacco lines are returned to Alperin," he added.
In May 2024, massive searches began at all factories, and the equipment returned by Judge Tsytkich was seized again by the BES.
The tax authorities conducted an audit and found that the state had suffered UAH 127 million in losses, and Orion Tobacco LLC was deprived of its cigarette production license.
"And do you know who in the Shevchenkivskyi court is 'accidentally' assigned to the equipment seizure proceedings? That's right. The same judge Tsytkich who returned the same equipment to Alperin a few months ago. For several hearings in a row, this judge did not consider the arrest, postponed the hearing and stalled. Finally, on June 11, after publicizing such actions of Judge Tsytkich, he finally decided to seize the equipment," Plinskyi continued.
Then, on June 17, 2024, prosecutors filed a petition with the court to transfer the seized equipment to the ARMA for its sale.
According to the journalist, the motion is to be considered by judge of the Shevchenkivskyi Court Tetiana Ovsepian, who in 2014 deprived Automaidan participants of their rights. Also in 2019, she did not extend the prosecutor's office's investigation into the case of the "Tapes of the Head of the KDAC Pavlo Vovk".
"And this time she has to consider a petition to transfer Alperin's tobacco lines to the ARMA. And do you know what she does? She does nothing. For more than a month now, Ovsepian has not scheduled a hearing or considered a petition to transfer the facilities of one of the top producers of illegal cigarettes to the state.
Informally, the judge's representatives say that Ovsepian is waiting for the decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeal, which should soon consider the appeal of Davos Group LLC and return the seized equipment to Alperin," Plinskyi summarized.
