The Belgian corporation Puratos, which manufactures products for the baking and confectionery industries, continues operating in both Ukraine and russia. Here, it engages in tax evasion schemes and promotes itself through the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund, while in russia – it pays taxes to the russian budget and finances the war against Ukraine.
Serhiy Solovey is the director of the Ukrainian subsidiary of Puratos. He also heads the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund, which in three years of full-scale invasion has helped only one enterprise. It turned out to be linked to the notorious former Party of Regions member Svyatoslav Piskun. See below for more details 190.today.
Recently, journalists from Apostrophe conducted an investigation titled Food on Blood. How Puratos continues to operate in Ukraine and earn money in russia and again drew attention to a number of international corporations that have not left the russian market and continue doing business in Ukraine. These include Lesaffre, Puratos Group, and Master Martini.
These companies manufacture and supply products for the bakery and confectionery industry to many countries worldwide. After russia’s full-scale invasion, they continued to operate in russia, paying taxes to its budget and, apparently, have no plans to end cooperation with russians.
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—or reconciliation with the enemy
In 2022, the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers reached out to so-called “ingredient” companies Lesaffre, Puratos Group, and Master Martini with a call to exit the russian market. The letter was signed by the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers president and director of Kyiv Khlib LLC Yuriy Duchenko.
“We ask you to decide which market you plan to develop in the future – the market of European Ukraine or the market of the aggressor country. Ukrainian bakers, confectioners, and related companies cannot afford to cooperate with companies that continue operating in russia and fill its budget with taxes, while that money is being ‘spent’ on the deaths of our children. Therefore, we are ready to massively abandon the use of your products and services. But we hope to find common ground and understanding during this extremely difficult time for us,” the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers’ statement said.
However, recently Duchenko’s wife, Yuliya, director of Stolichny Pekarny Dim LLC, received two awards from the Baking Awards with Lesaffre “for preserving Ukrainian traditions.” The cynicism of the situation is heightened by the fact that the awards were announced by Kyiv Khlib LLC, whose director had few years earlier called on Lesaffre to “choose a side.”
Screenshot from the Facebook page of Yuliya Duchenko, with pictures of her receiving the award and thanking her team members
It’s hard to call this a coincidence. Either the Duchenko couple has a very short memory, or they have “found common ground and understanding” with Lesaffre.
Yuriy Duchenko
By the way, last year russian propagandists skillfully used Yuriy Duchenko’s statements to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives. At the time, the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers president stated, that bread in Ukraine could rise in price by 30%, primarily due to power outages. Jumping ahead – Duchenko’s forecasts did not come true. But russian media eagerly picked up the story and began to speculate on the topic. Russia Today concluded that “in pursuit of billions, Zelensky has already sold all the grain and the price increase for bread is due to a shortage of basic goods.” In the end, propagandists even claimed that in Ukraine, “manhunters” would catch and mobilize women, and that “the dead don’t need bread.”
Screenshot of the material from russian propaganda material Russia Today, referring to Yuriy Duchenko statement
But let’s return to the international companies that are in no hurry to leave the russian market because they don’t want to lose profits, while continuing to operate in Ukraine. Puratos Group deserves special attention. This Belgian corporation operates in over 100 countries worldwide and continues to work in both Ukraine and russia.
The russian subsidiary brings Puratos Group multimillion-dollar profits
Puratos-Russia is a subsidiary of Belgian Puratos, which has been operating in russia for 30 years. The russian branch brings the corporation over $120 million in profits. According to the Leave-russia platform, Puratos has $64 million in assets in russia and annually pays 5 million in taxes to the aggressor country’s budget, thus indirectly financing the war against Ukraine.
There are three factories of the company operating in russia, with branches in seven of the largest cities. In all russian regions, as well as in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Armenia, 45 distributor companies operate. Puratos-russia supplies its products to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Currently, almost the entire product range (90%) is produced in russia.
The russian Puratos ranks among the top five russian food production companies by revenue and holds fourth place. Bakery products are an important supply component, and one of the main consumers of such products today is the russian army. Therefore, it is entirely possible that Puratos-russia products are directly or indirectly supplied to the russian armed forces.
Moreover, the company has fully adapted to the russian market and consumers. Puratos-russia regularly congratulates russians on russia Day and Victory Day on its official social media pages.
Screenshots from the official page of Puratos-russia in russian social network VKontakte, congratulating russians with Victory Day and russia Day
Right after the full-scale invasion, when international businesses began to massively exit the russian market, the director of Puratos-russia, Natalia Petrenko, said that their partners and suppliers were looking for ways to continue doing business in russia. She also stated that the Puratos Group headquarters “fully supports them.” And, as we can see, continues to support them.
Director of Puratos-russia Natalia Petrenko, stating that headquarters are fully supporting them
The Ukrainian subsidiary of Puratos Group is used to support the corporation’s reputation
Puratos also has a Ukrainian subsidiary – Puratos Ukraine. The Ukrainian company was established in 2005 and is headed by Serhiy Solovey. Puratos Ukraine, in addition to supplying ingredients to specialized companies, also produces bakery, confectionery, and chocolate products. The Puratos Ukraine plant was built in Odesa region in 2016. It has three production lines (margarine, fillings and glazes, dry mixes) and produces about 120,000 tons of products per year.
The Ukrainian branch does not bring significant profits to Puratos, while the russian Puratos is highly profitable. Economists and analysts analyzed the financial statements of Puratos Ukraine – in Ukraine, the company exists only due to subsidies and loans from Belgium.
However, Puratos Group continues to operate in Ukraine not for economic but rather reputational reasons. The russian subsidiary provides the Belgians with stable income, which the corporation is obviously not ready to give up. Moreover, profits from the russian market may cover losses in other regions. At the same time, being present in Ukraine is important to maintain the brand, international image, and to avoid accusations of supporting the aggressor. Because leaving the Ukrainian market while staying in russia would mean loss of reputation, partners, and access to the global market.
In addition, the Ukrainian subsidiary allows Puratos Group to maintain a “foundation” for full business recovery on the territory of our country after the war. Given that few are willing to invest in new projects or expand business in Ukraine today due to hostilities, maintaining a presence is a way to retain future positions.
Thus, Puratos Group balances between profit and reputation, trying to avoid sanctions and criticism while not losing benefits from both markets. In essence, the company’s policy is to sit on two chairs. And to remain on the Ukrainian market, Puratos devised a PR move.
A dubious fund that helped only one dubious enterprise
In 2022, Puratos Ukraine created the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund, established to provide material and technological support to Ukrainian bakery and confectionery enterprises affected by russian aggression. Serhiy Solovey, the director of Puratos Ukraine, was appointed as the director of the Fund.
No transparent reports from the Fund regarding assistance to specific enterprises—except one—could be found. The only company that actually received help from the Fund in the form of a grant to purchase destroyed equipment was Chanta Mount LLC, which is linked to the notorious pro-russian politician, former member of the Party of Regions, and former Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Sviatoslav Piskun. During the full-scale war, Piskun played along with russian propaganda and spread fake news about the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For example, he lied about the losses of the 47th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The senior sergeant of the 47th Brigade, Valeriy Markus, immediately refuted the statements of the former Party of Regions member and called them lies.
Sviatoslav Piskun and Viktor Yanukovych
Chanta Mount LLC was part of the now-bankrupt group of companies HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC. In 2019–2020, HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC withdrew from the ownership structure of all bread plants in which it directly held shares, and was replaced by the Cypriot company Celebrer Holding Limited, which belongs to Svitlana Piskun, the wife of Sviatoslav Piskun. The co-owner of Celebrer Holding Limited is Olena Mykolaivna Chernyshova.
In October of 2020, the court declared HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC bankrupt. However, the owner of HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC, former Member of Parliament from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Yuriy Tryndiuk, had previously established a new management structure—Khlibni Investytsii LLC. The company stated that the bankruptcy procedure of HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC has no connection to the group of companies under Khlibni Investytsii LLC and would not affect the relationships between the companies in the group.
The managing company of the Khlibni Investytsii group became Khlibni Investytsii LLC. All the enterprises previously part of HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC, includingChanta Mount LLC, were incorporated into the group.
Shortly before the bankruptcy of HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC the Cypriot company Celebrer Holding Limited of Svitlana Piskun and Olena Chernyshova withdrew from its list of owners.
Screenshot from the platform Opendatabot. Svitlana Piskun, Olena Chernyshova and their Cypriot company Celebrer Holding Limited withdrew from the list of owners of HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC in March of 2020
Today, Svitlana Piskun formally has no relation to Khlibni Investytsii LLC or to Chanta Mount LLC in particular. The sole owner of Chanta Mount LLC is her business partner Olena Chernyshova. She also owns several other companies within the Khlibni Investytsii group: SLC Ivano-Frankivskyi Khlibokombinat and PrJSC Teremno Khlib.
Screenshot from the platform Opendatabot. The owner of Chanta Mount LLC is Olena Chernyshova
After the bankruptcy of HK Khlibni Investytsii LLC, journalists reported that shares in various enterprises of the Khlibni Investytsii group were distributed roughly equally between the Tryndiuk and Piskun families, who have been friends for several decades. As a result, Svitlana Piskun may still control Chanta Mount LLC and other companies in the Khlibni Investytsii group, even though on paper she has exited its ownership structure.
The Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund has no other known achievements besides providing assistance to a business linked to the former Party of Regions member Piskun. Why the Fund chose to help Chanta Mount LLC specifically remains unknown. According to recent data, about 20% of bakeries in Ukraine have been destroyed or forced to cease operations due to russian aggression, resulting in massive losses for the industry and a significant drop in production volumes. Moreover, the president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers, Yuriy Duchenko, stated that donors and funds do promise financial support to affected bakery enterprises, but such assistance can only be expected after the war ends. Therefore, the awarding of a grant to Chanta Mount LLC during a full-scale war stands out as an exception—one that appears especially suspicious given the lack of funding for other participants in the baking sector.
The owners of the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund are Puratos Ukraine LLC and the Belgians Demannez Yolande-Clarisse, Demannez Patrick-Serge, Demannez Michel-Jean, Demannez Pierre-Claude, Van Belle Eddy-Alphonse, Van Belle Rita-Dora, and De Ville Hervé-Jean. In effect, these individuals financed a business with connections to the Piskun family.
Screenshot from the platform Opendatabot. The owners of the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund, mentioned above
But why did Puratos Ukraine create the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund? It should be noted that the Fund is a non-profit organization, meaning it does not generate any profit for the Belgian corporation. In reality, the Fund’s creation may be yet another attempt to improve the company’s reputation amid its continued business ties with russia. However, such a marketing move appears absurd.
On the company’s website it is stated, that “Puratos Ukraine recognizes the special importance of the food industry for the physical survival of people and for the preservation of civilizational, cultural, and humanistic values such as confidence in the future and stable development.” At the same time, the parent company continues to make money in russia and pays millions in taxes to the russian budget—a third of which goes to the russian army, which is actively trying to destroy peaceful Ukrainian cities every day.
Another potential “advantage” of creating the Fund could be employee exemption from military service. According to Resolution No. 76 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated January 27, 2023, employees of charitable foundations providing humanitarian support to the population with the assistance of international organizations may qualify for deferment from mobilization, if their organization is classified as critical to the functioning of the economy and ensuring the population vital needs during a special period.
According to data from the Opendatabot platform, only one person is officially employed by the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund—namely, its director and the director of Puratos Ukraine, Serhiy Solovey. Our sources claim that Solovey is evading mobilization and attempted to be discharged from military duty on medical grounds in April of this year. Could he have used his position as director of the Fund as a way to avoid military service? Of course he could. But it’s unlikely that the Belgian leadership is aware of his motives.
Serhiy Solovey- director of Puratos Ukraine LLC and Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund
Who might be lobbying for Puratos’ interests in Ukraine?
Kyiv Khlib LLC, managed by the aforementioned Yuriy Duchenko, is owned by Viacheslav Suprunenko. He is the former son-in-law of ex-Kyiv mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi and the brother of former Party of Regions MP Oleksandr Suprunenko. In 2016, political consultant Mykhailo Podolyak, now an advisor to the Head of the President’s Office, referred to Viacheslav Suprunenko as the “Kyiv milkmaid”—someone who collected tribute from Kyiv business owners and installed his people in key positions within the city administration, allowing him to fully control financial flows and manage Kyiv’s municipal economy.
Viacheslav Suprunenko
An interesting fact: the Suprunenko brothers effectively seized control of Kyiv Khlib LLC from the Kyiv community. Initially, they controlled the company through offshore firms; now, its ultimate beneficial owner is Viacheslav Suprunenko. Duchenko and Suprunenko have a close personal friendship.
But what does Puratos have to do with it? We obtained a document listing all the Ukrainian companies supplied with raw materials by Puratos Ukraine, the Ukrainian subsidiary of Puratos. It has come to our attention that Kyiv Khlib LLC purchases ingredients from Puratos Ukraine through Zakupivli Com LLC, which also belongs to the Suprunenko structure. Specifically, the supplies include Intens Mold Control improver, dark barley malt, fruit fillings of various flavors, several types of sourdough, sprouted wheat flour,glaze,and many other ingredients for bakery and confectionery production.
Screenshot from the platform Opendatabot. The owners of Zakupivli Com LLC
It’s worth recalling that the president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers and the director of Kyiv Khlib LLC, Duchenko, very quickly forgot his own call for several international corporations to leave the russian market and “befriended” Lesaffre—one of the companies on that list. This may indicate his personal interest in Lesaffre’s continued presence in Ukraine.
He also seems to have forgotten about issuing a similar appeal to Puratos Group. In February 2024, the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers publicly promoted Puratos Ukraine LLC.
At that time, Mykolaiv Bread Plant No. 1 put a new Gimak DF – 113 rotary oven into operation. The All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers emphasized that this was made possible thanks to the plant’s partners—Puratos Ukraine LLC and its director, Serhiy Solovey.
“We sincerely thank our partners for their support. With the new equipment, Mykolaiv Bread Plant No. 1 will bake more delicious bakery products and deliver them to areas suffering from russian aggression in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions,” the organization said in a statement.
Only the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers somehow failed to mention that Puratos’s parent company is, in fact, helping finance the very Russian aggression from which Ukrainian businesses are suffering.
Screenshot from the Facebook page of All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers. Third from the left- Serhiy Solovey
Notably, Mykolaiv Bread Factory No. 1 received assistance specifically from Puratos Ukraine LLC and its director Serhiy Solovey, not from the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund. In this case, the question arises for the second time: why did Puratos Ukraine LLC create the Fund? Since support to the affected enterprise was provided directly by the company, and the Fund itself does not show real activity or transparent work, this again leads to the conclusion that its creation was only an element of an image campaign.
Thanks for Puratos Ukraine LLC and Serhiy Solovey from the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers also improved the company’s image in the so-called bread circles. In fact, Yuriy Duchenko promoted the company which he called on to define its position and leave the russian market.
Duchenko and Suprunenko, it seems, have defined their position. The businessmen may be interested in the further work of Puratos Group on the territory of our country. After the end of the war, this could bring them concrete benefits—from new contracts and joint projects to personal bonuses, loyalty from Puratos management, and support for their business at the international level.
In this case, ignoring the company’s presence in the russian market does not look like an accident but a deliberate silence aimed at preserving a convenient and profitable partner for themselves, regardless of moral or political consequences.
And Serhiy Solovey only benefits from such “shared interests.” Thanks to this protection from Duchenko and Suprunenko, he will continue to manage Puratos Ukraine LLC and the Ukraine Bakery Industry Renovation Fund.
And one more interesting fact. Serhiy Solovey publicly did not comment on the full-scale invasion by the russian Federation. In April of 2022, on his Facebook page, he updated his cover photo. The image shows a soldier sewing the Ukrainian flag with his hands. This is Solovey’s only reaction to russia starting to shell Ukrainian cities with rockets.
Facebook page of Serhiy Solovey
Tax evasion
While Puratos-russia pays millions to the russian budget, the Ukrainian subsidiary participates in a tax evasion scheme. According to court documents, Puratos Ukraine LLC plays a key role as an importer of raw materials—this company brings chocolate into Ukraine in the form of drops, which is then used in the tax evasion scheme. Products from Puratos Ukraine were purchased by Solodoshchi Lvivshchyny LLC and Chokolyadovagra LLC, after which the chocolate was transferred for processing to Shokooooooooolad LLC. After processing, the sale of the finished products, namely chocolate goods, was officially documented from Solodoshchi Lvivshchyny LLC and Chokolyadovagra LLC to controlled sole proprietor’s created by officials of the aforementioned enterprises at a price 53% lower than the real market price.
After that, the controlled sole proprietor’s, acting in agreement with Solodoshchi Lvivshchyny LLC and Chokolyadovagra LLC, sold the chocolate at the real market value.
And although Puratos Ukraine LLC does not appear as the organizer of the scheme, the scheme would not have worked without the enterprise, because it supplied the key raw materials to the persons involved. Thus, the Ukrainian subsidiary of Puratos became an accomplice in the tax evasion scheme.
From left to right: General Director of Puratos Group Pierre Tossut and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the corporation Cédric Van Belle
We call on the CEO of Puratos Group Pierre Tossut and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the corporation Cédric Van Belle to cease cooperation with the aggressor country or to leave the Ukrainian market. We also appeal to the Security Service of Ukraine with a demand to investigate the activities of Puratos Ukraine on the territory of our state, as well as the head of the company Serhiy Solovey, who may be an accomplice in a tax evasion scheme.
Separately, we want to address Ukrainian producers of bakery and confectionery products with a call to stop cooperating with the Ukrainian enterprise Puratos Ukraine until the corporation determines its position. Considering the activities of Puratos in russia, continued cooperation with its Ukrainian subsidiary poses a risk to national security.
