Entrepreneur Serhii Vahanian: "There was ’shlahbaum’ scheme around grain, I’m ready to tell NABU everything"

Author: Vasyl Melnyk

Operation "Midas" allowed Ukrainians to look behind the curtain of the televised marathon and see how decisions are actually made in the country and who makes them. Hardly anyone doubts that the materials published by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) on the "shlahbaum" (’barrier’) corruption scheme, which involved soliciting "kickbacks" from Energoatom contractors, are only part of the broader picture.

Similar schemes operated in other sectors as well, including the grain market, entrepreneur Serhii Vahanian claims. According to him, in this case, it functioned under the cover of another figure associated with Kvartal 95, former Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Ivan Bakanov, and his "right-hand man," Andrii Naumov.

"After I once refused to comply with the demands, they began demanding $20 million from me, threatened my family, and opened a fabricated case. On top of that, I knew too much, so they threatened to have me eliminated. Because of this, I was forced to leave Ukraine and lost assets worth $50–60 million," Vahanian says.

The entrepreneur now says he is ready to return to Ukraine and testify against the organizers of the grain schemes, but new criminal cases are being opened against him one after another based on complaints from former "partners," in order to keep this from happening

We do not claim the role of law enforcement: the editorial team cannot verify most of Vahanian’s statements through independent sources; however, much of what he says is corroborated by open registry data and journalistic investigations. As do the materials of criminal proceedings, which indirectly indicate that the entrepreneur was part of influential business circles in Odesa.

Paradoxically, a significant piece of evidence in support of Vahanian’s words is a case being heard against him in a Ukrainian court. It is hard to imagine that one of the "kings of smuggling" and a close friend of Naumov, Oleksander Akst, is trying to convince the court that his manager lent millions of euros to someone who did not hold a serious position in a not very transparent, but extremely profitable business.

Odessa, grain, Bakanov

Like the vast majority of Odesa businesspeople, Serhii Vahanian is not a public figure and speaks about his business briefly.

"I was engaged in growing grain in Poltava, Kharkiv, and Sumy regions, as well as in its purchase and sale and export. In addition, I have always been engaged in the medical business," the entrepreneur says.

According to him, in 2017, he moved to Odesa, having become interested in new opportunities that were emerging at the time in the medical field. 

"If you remember, pilot projects to develop telemedicine were being launched back then. In Odesa, this was handled by Viacheslav Oleksiiovych Poliasnyi (at the time, the director of the healthcare department of the Odesa Regional State Administration and a World Bank consultant - ed. note) — a major reformer and a person deeply devoted to his work. You know, I’m an orphan, but he was like a father to me. By that time, I was already not a poor man, but I was genuinely interested in doing this," Serhii Vahanian says.

This is how he met Poliasnyi’s nephew, Maksym Boiko, who became his friend and the compadre. According to Vahanian, Boiko later began to play the roles of an accountant, treasurer, and financier in his medical and grain business, and also served as a trusted person in whose name a significant portion of the assets was officially registered.

At the time, this kind of business arrangement was common among Ukrainian entrepreneurs who had political ambitions or worked in sectors traditionally associated with heightened attention from law enforcement. Grain is Ukraine’s "yellow gold" and has always been one of those sectors, Vahanian says.

He acknowledges that even then, grain exporters often had to rely on "grey" schemes, because farmers usually preferred cash settlements, as did law enforcement officers.

"Under Poroshenko, it was clear how everything worked. For example, we understood that his friend Kovalchuk (Vitalii Kovalchuk, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration in 2014–2019 - ed. note) was lobbying for certain people. There were also certain topics you didn’t even try to get into. But overall, the posts were held by apparatchiks you could work with," the entrepreneur says.

However, there were hopes for something better. In 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the presidential election, running on slogans about rooting out corruption and bringing new people into government who would take the country to a new level, Vahanian recalls. Moreover, he personally knew many people from the president’s circle, as his family used to invite members of Kvartal 95 to their celebrations.

Vahanian says that at one of those celebrations in August 2019, former Kvartal director and, at the time, head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime, Ivan Bakanov (appointed head of the SBU on August 29, 2019 - ed.note), introduced him to Andrii Naumov as his "right-hand man."

"Bakanov said that from then on all business matters would have to be discussed with him," the entrepreneur says.

Vahanian says that even after the change of power, one still had to pay to avoid artificial problems being created in business. 

"At first, the ‘gratitude’ took the form of buying furniture for Naumov’s personal residence and Bakanov’s house, paying bills, and making contributions to the SBU’s charity fund, but then the appetites began to grow. Naumov’s and Bakanov’s requests came to include the purchase of cars, including armored ones (worth about $2 million), expensive gifts, recreational vehicles, snowmobiles and quad bikes, as well as yachts (worth about $1.5 million) and jewelry," the businessman claims.

However, the entrepreneur says that later the "curators" set a "subscription fee" in the form of a monthly cash amount, handed over personally, and depending on the volume of grain sold (exported) and the amount of profit received. Vahanian claims that over time, the "gratitude" reached 30–50% of profits and amounted to millions of dollars.

He says that later, Naumov strongly urged him to use the grain elevators of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) for storage, and also began telling him whom to sell grain to for cash.

"In December (2019 - ed.note), Naumov asked me to meet with Dorovskyi, head of the SBU directorate in the Odesa region. He arranged a meeting with agribusinessmen from Mykolaiv and Odesa," the entrepreneur says.

According to Vahanian, they turned out to be Odesa resident Ivan Cheban, who is close to the team of Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov, and Oleh Afanasiev, co-owner of the Mykolaiv company Samga and a Mykolaiv city council member from the Opposition Platform – For Life (OPZZh).

"Dorovskyi said they were reliable, solvent buyers who were ready to buy out all volumes. And from early January 2021, Afanasiev and Cheban provided addresses for unloading grain," the businessman continues.

Vahanian says sunflower seed was unloaded under contracts of Afanasiev’s company Samga at the Kryvyi Rih enterprise Zolotyi Drakon and at an oil plant in the town of Bashtanka, Mykolaiv region. Corn and wheat were shipped for export via the seaports terminals Nika-Tera, TIS-Grain, and Olimpex Coupe International.

However, payments were made on time, and the business was growing. In the summer of 2021, Naumov told him about the possibility of becoming head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Vahanian continues. At the time, the Odesa Regional State Administration was headed by Serhii Hrynevetskyi — a veteran of Ukrainian politics who historically had close ties to local elites, but may have been less convenient for managers in Kyiv.

"I understood that they had their own plans and their own interest, so at first I refused because I wanted to expand the business. But I’m an ambitious person, and they were offering it very insistently, so in the end I agreed and began handing things over to my compadre and assistant, Maksym Boiko," Vahanian says.

But at the end of the summer of 2021, the situation became more complicated. According to him, in mid-August, the "curators" instructed him to ship a large consignment of corn worth about $12 million to a company that turned out to be linked to figures in the so-called "top 10 smugglers" against whom Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions in April of the same year. The president’s declared war on smugglers was in full swing, and the deal seemed risky both financially and in terms of political prospects, so he refused.

According to Vahanian, after this refusal, his relations with Naumov deteriorated, payments for the delivered grain began to be delayed, and soon Naumov hinted that, for some reason, the National Police were preparing searches at his place.

Vahanian adds that a week after his conversation with Naumov, in late August 2021, he was attacked, but the assault was stopped by his security. The very next day, Naumov asked him to come by his "back office."

He said I needed to give $20 million in cash to him and the ‘director.’ I asked: for what? Naumov replied: ‘for the fact that in a week you become the governor of Odesa region and as an apology,’" the entrepreneur says.

He adds that, as an alternative, Naumov offered that he deliver grain worth the same amount to Vadym Yermolaiev’s elevators.

"I said the grain was registered in the name of my compadre, Boiko, but Naumov replied that he already knew that and had already spoken to him. And if I refuse, then Boiko will run my business, and no country in Europe will save me," Vahanian says.

He notes that he knew Yermolaiev.

"We knew each other through business; he had elevators where we delivered our grain. And his son was dealing with call centers at the time," Vahanian explains.

Vahanian says that the next day after he refused to pay Naumov $20 million, there was an attempt to withdraw state protection from him and his wife, and he himself began to be surveilled.

He adds that on the evening of September 6, 2021, Naumov’s closest friend and associate, Oleksandr Akst, called him and "as a friend" told him that searches would be conducted at his place in the SFGCU case.

He also clarifies that he knew Akst, but their areas of interest did not overlap.

"I was in the agricultural business, and Akst was in customs, smuggling, those parcels. These are different things. Of course, I was also offered, for example, to deal in cigarettes, but I said that wasn’t for me," he says.

But a few days after the conversation, his security reported that they had found an explosive device in the parking area above his cars, Vahanian continues. After that, he sent his family to Odesa under security escort, while he himself went to Lviv.

The last piece of evidence indicating how serious the situation was, he says, was his conversation with his compadre and confidant, Maksym Boiko, on September 15 of that year.

"Before that, he hadn’t answered the phone for nine days. Boiko said he would now deal with Naumov himself, and told him that I had been collecting compromising material on him. Now I think he had been jealous of me the whole time and took advantage of the opportunity. But back then I realized they could not only rob me, but also physically eliminate me," the entrepreneur suggests.

The same day, he returned to Kyiv, and on September 16, 2021, flew to Vienna. After that, threats began to be directed at his wife, and later searches were also carried out at her place.

The reason was the alleged counterfeit production of vodka and cigarettes in a fact-finding case where there were not even any suspects. They came with searches first on my birthday and then on my daughter’s birthday. At both searches, the attesting witness was Oleh Afanasiev, who was directing the investigators. There was only one question: ‘Tell us where Serhii is and where his flash drives with compromising material are,’" Vahanian says.

According to him, after that, his wife was denied permission to leave the country several times under various pretexts, while being questioned about her husband. She was able to leave Ukraine with their daughter only on the fifth attempt.

"Case after case": How former partners initiated investigations against Vahanian

According to the court register, after his falling-out with Naumov, criminal cases began to appear against Vahanian. For the record, the entrepreneur had no prior convictions. And whenever the investigation hit a dead end in one of them, a new one would appear.

All the criminal proceedings against Vahanian, based on complaints from his former partners, were opened by National Police investigators. Since September 2019, the National Police’s Main Investigation Department has been headed by Maksym Tsutskiridze — a childhood friend, former subordinate, and associate of Oleh Tatarov, deputy head of the Office of the President, who oversees the work of law enforcement and judicial bodies.

Case 1: SFGCU 

As Naumov and Akst had warned, law enforcement was indeed preparing searches involving Vahanian in September 2021. This concerns criminal proceedings into the embezzlement of SFGCU funds, opened by the National Police’s Main Investigation Department in July 2020.

According to the court register, on September 7, 2021, a judge of the Pecherskyi District Court granted an investigator’s motion and authorized a search at the entrepreneur’s place of residence. The investigator also stated that Vahanian may be involved in committing the criminal offenses as the owner of the company UNT.

However, it appears that linking the entrepreneur to the SFGCU corruption case did not succeed. On September 27, a week after Vahanian left Ukraine, the investigator filed a motion seeking authorization to search the offices of UNT itself. This time, however, the judge denied the motion, deeming the grounds cited by the investigator for conducting the search "dubious."

The court register contains no further decisions in this proceeding in which the company UNT is mentioned. The case itself was later transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and in August 2022, the pre-trial investigation in it was suspended "due to the impossibility of conducting investigative actions during the period of martial law."

Instead, almost immediately after that, a new criminal case was opened against Vahanian.

Case 2. Naumov’s friend Akst and 5 million euros

According to the court register, a few weeks after the businessman left Ukraine, on October 7, 2021, the National Police registered criminal proceedings based on a complaint from a citizen who claimed that on August 19 Vahanian had allegedly borrowed 5 million euros in cash from him and wrote a receipt undertaking to return the funds within two weeks, but did not return them.

Although in essence the situation looked like a clarification of business relations between two entrepreneurs, investigators opened the case under Part 4 of Article 190 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (fraud committed on an especially large scale) — a serious charge that provides for punishment in the form of a lengthy prison term.

Moreover, the National Police treated the investigation with unusual seriousness. According to the court register, the investigative group in the criminal proceeding included 11 senior investigators for especially important cases and another 10 regular investigators.

As early as October 12, several motions were filed with the Pecherskyi District Court to obtain signature samples from his former workplace, applications for weapons registration, and data on four of Vahanian’s phone numbers; the next day, the judge granted them.

And as early as November 4, the entrepreneur was allegedly served with a notice of suspicion, sent by mail to his registered address in Poltava and to his wife’s place of residence. At the same time, that same day, he was put on a wanted list, stating that the suspect’s whereabouts were unknown. The next day, November 5, he was placed on an international wanted list.

On November 9, the Pecherskyi Court imposed a preventive measure on Vahanian in the form of detention in custody. Notably, on that same day, an expert from the Kyiv Research Forensic Center of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry concluded that the entrepreneur’s signature on the receipt for the 5 million-euro loan was allegedly genuine, but the receipt itself was not added to the criminal case and was returned to the complainant.

At the same time, new episodes appeared in the investigators’ motion for the preventive measure. Allegedly, in addition to the 5 million euros, in the summer of 2021, Vahanian also borrowed $1.2 million and 23 million hryvnias from two other people. In addition, besides fraud, he was already being accused of misappropriating funds from the above-mentioned Samga LLC and of legalization (laundering) of proceeds obtained through criminal means on an especially large scale (Part 3 of Article 209 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code).

This likely was meant to lend additional gravity to the case. However, all the complainants in it turned out, one way or another, to be connected to Naumov and shadow business.

The first complainant, who allegedly lent 5 million euros, turned out to be Andrii Hrynko. According to Vahanian, he had never met him and did not know him at all, and the receipt presented by Hrynko is forged, something an alternative expert examination confirmed. In addition, investigators did not allow his lawyer to review the case materials for four years, and no investigative actions took place in the case, the entrepreneur adds.

However, Hrynko’s lawyer went to court seeking recovery of the debt under the receipt, referring to the conclusion of that same Interior Ministry forensic center. Despite repeated motions, the court refused to order a repeat handwriting examination.

However, it was in this very process that an unexpected twist later occurred. After several years of litigation and the opening of enforcement proceedings to collect the debt, the court received a motion to replace the creditor. Instead of Andrii Hrynko, it was to be Oleksandr Akst, a German citizen who allegedly paid Hrynko the debt under the receipt, with interest, in cash in September 2025. Although he could not do so under Ukrainian law, as he remains under National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) sanctions.

Moreover, according to data in the YouControl system, Andrii Hrynko is Akst’s former manager: he headed the company Herman Logistics Service, which was hit with sanctions together with the smuggler himself in 2021. In other words, the case against Vahanian was initiated by the manager of Naumov’s close friend.

The second complainant in the case was Denys Puhach, who allegedly lent Vahanian $1.2 million. According to RBC-Ukraine, in those years, he served as an adviser to the heads of SFGCU and Ukrzaliznytsia, and in practice, took part in the operation of the "back offices" in those companies.

The third complainant was the above-mentioned Odesa entrepreneur Ivan Cheban, with whom Vahanian cooperated at the instruction of SBU officials.

Vahanian himself claims there is no evidence that money was handed over to Puhach and Cheban, aside from their own statements and testimony from his assistant Boiko, who began cooperating with Naumov.

Eventually, after Naumov fled Ukraine a day before the start of the full-scale war, the judges’ stance in this case began to shift. And in April 2022, the Pecherskyi Court revoked Vahanian’s in absentia arrest, replacing it with a personal recognizance, and National Police investigators canceled his international wanted status.

According to the entrepreneur, around the same time, SBI investigators approached Vahanian with a proposal to give testimony in a treason case that involved certain SBU leaders.

"In March 2022, through friends, I was asked to give testimony in an investigation the SBI was conducting under the ‘high treason’ article against Naumov, Kulinich, and Bakanov. Allegedly, Vasyl Maliuk’s subordinates were collecting materials. In return, they promised an objective investigation of my case," the entrepreneur says.

According to him, he gave testimony and handed over some of the materials. After the preventive measure was changed, he was supposed to return to Ukraine to continue testifying in the case.

Vahanian adds that after Bakanov was dismissed from the post of head of the SBU, the situation changed, and prosecutors went back to court; the court overturned the decision to ease the preventive measure for him and reinstated the in absentia arrest.

And in the fall of the same year, after Austrian police stopped him on a motorway and checked his documents, it emerged that the entrepreneur’s international wanted status had also been reinstated. As a result, he spent 40 days in an Austrian prison while local law enforcement waited for additional evidence from their Ukrainian counterparts, but after that period, the Austrian court released him.

"As early as September 2023, I was told that a decision had been made not to touch Naumov and Bakanov in the case of treason and the handing over of Kherson and Mariupol, as well as regarding the schemes," Vahanian explains.

Case 3. A new story from 2021

In the summer of 2025, at first in the form of isolated leaks, information began to appear in the media that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) was investigating corruption schemes that the president’s circle may be involved in. After the Office of the President’s unsuccessful attempt in July to strip NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of their independence, it became clear that such an investigation was possible in principle.

According to Vahanian, after that, he began to hope that other schemes involving the most senior officials could also indeed be investigated, including those involving Naumov.

"I have approached NABU and I am ready to show everything. But first I want some protection to be provided for me. Because people from other agencies have already approached me with warnings that I should not do this. But so far NABU is not responding," the entrepreneur says.

Meanwhile, the case against Vahanian over money allegedly borrowed from Naumov’s circle appears to have hit a dead end. At least, in recent years, the court register contains no new information about it, aside from complaints filed by lawyers. But a new one has emerged.

On August 18 of this year, the National Police’s Main Directorate in Kyiv registered criminal proceedings based on a complaint from the director of the Mykolaiv-based company Samga, under the same fraud article. This time, investigators moved even faster, drafting a notice of suspicion the same day. The grounds for opening the case were grain allegedly not delivered in 2021 worth $22 million.

According to Vahanian, he has again begun receiving threats, while law enforcement continues to intimidate his relatives; searches were carried out even at the home of his ex-wife and her parents.

"In this case, they began seizing property from other people, including those I have never even seen in my life. They also seized my former neighbor’s new car; from her mother, they took $240,000 from a bank safe-deposit box, for which all the documents exist. They seized property from a bus driver who once delivered milk for my child. They are being pressured to give testimony against me, because investigators have no evidence," the entrepreneur says.

Vahanian is convinced that the new cases against him indicate that, despite Naumov and Akst fleeing and Bakanov being dismissed, the schemes they controlled are still operating.

"People connected to Naumov tell me nothing will work out. They say Naumov is still cooperating with Tatarov. And Akst’s schemes are working as well. Just look at how many luxury clothing stores are opening en masse during the war and who owns them. I want to return to the country and do business, but they are simply afraid to let me in because of the evidence I have. Still, I am ready to tell everything, the truth is on my side, and I will see it through. "I have plenty of interesting stories in my arsenal about direct contacts, embezzlement, forced business takeovers, corporate raiding, extortion, corruption, schemes, "providing cover" for schemes… To be continued," the businessman adds.

P.S. The editorial team will continue to follow the development of this case and is ready to publish comments from the individuals named in the text.