Companies associated with the Dobkin brothers are suspected of financing the Russian army — SSU

Companies associated with the Dobkin brothers are suspected of financing the Russian army — SSU

The Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) suspects officials of several enterprises owned by brothers Mykhaylo and Dmytro Dobkin of aiding the aggressor state (Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code, sanction – imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years).

This is stated in the ruling of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv dated March 24, 2025, granting access to items and documents, the text of which is at the disposal of the media.

Justifying the need for access, senior investigator Oleksandr Maiboroda points to the establishment of facts that officials of PJSC "Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm," JSC "Volodymyr-Volynska Trading Company," LLC "Lutsk Agricultural Company," and JSC "Volodymyr-Volynska Agricultural Company" are engaged in activities aimed at supporting and financing the activities of the military formations of the aggressor country.

As evidence of this, witness testimony from September 13, 2024, is provided, stating that representatives of the first three aforementioned companies, during 2019-2021, supplied the majority of manufactured poultry products to the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk region for cash to seek super profits.

In addition, "as a result of covert investigative actions, facts have been established concerning the export of poultry products from PJSC "Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm" to Turkey and Uzbekistan for further re-exportation to the Russian Federation, as well as facts concerning the transfer of significant sums of cash, allegedly obtained illegally, particularly as a result of supplying products to the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk region and the Russian Federation."

"During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that these companies, controlled by Dobkin Dmytro and Mykhaylo, as well as individuals who have (with them) family ties, are involved in a series of financial operations (dealing with securities) characterized as coordinated and planned actions aimed at accumulating and further converting cash, which is then cashed out to finance the activities of the military formations of the aggressor country," the ruling states.

A separate episode of this criminal proceeding is the allegation that the management of PJSC "Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm" and other officials of the trading group "Epikur," with the assistance of the officials of the Volodymyr-Volynskyi City Council, during 2021-2024, used leased municipal lands of 11 hectares as settling ponds (filtration fields) for industrial waste biomass without proper execution of permitting documents.

The suspects for these charges are accused under Part 1 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code (Pollution or spoilage of land) and Part 2 of Article 239-1 of the Criminal Code (Illegal appropriation of soil cover of lands).

The Dobkin brothers have been in conflict with Alex Kovalenko since 2022. The latter accused Mykhaylo and Dmytro of illegally depriving him of control over a share in "Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm" and the unlawful use of the "Epikur" brand.

At the end of 2022, the owner of "Volodymyr-Volynska Poultry Farm," Dmytro Dobkin, told Forbes that in 2021, 96% of the manufactured products were sold on the domestic market and 4% were exported.

The Dobkin brothers were members of the Verkhovna Rada of the 8th convocation as part of the "Opposition Bloc" (previously the "Party of Regions"). After the start of the large-scale war, Mykhaylo Dobkin became a deacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).