Anzhela Bachevska11:32, 07.07.25

The owners of the Ukrainian manufacturer decided not to give up their earnings in Russia despite the full-scale war.

One of the largest tea and coffee producers in Ukraine, the Monomakh company, supplies its products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but the Security Service of Ukraine has put its owner on the wanted list in a case of aiding an aggressor state. This is reported by BusinessCensor .

It is noted that the company currently produces products under the brands “Monomax”, “Lovare”, “Stefano”, “Ferrara”, “Three Elephants”, “Tea Masterpieces”, “Coffee Masterpieces” and others. The owners of JSC “Monomakh” as of the end of last year were Bohdan Olegovich Barabash (60.05%) and Taras Olegovich Barabash (39.94%).

At the same time, the company’s revenues have increased significantly in recent years: from UAH 0.95 billion in 2021 to UAH 1.2 billion in 2023, UAH 1.8 billion in 2023, and UAH 2.3 billion in 2024.

As the journalists write, it turned out that the owners of the Ukrainian manufacturer decided not to give up their earnings in Russia despite the full-scale war.

According to  the  court registry, on June 10, the SBU searched the offices of Monomakh and a number of company employees. The company’s accountants reported the suspicion, and the SBU put its co-owner, Taras Barabash, on the wanted list.

What is the owner of the Monomakh tea producer suspected of?

Documents published in the court registry over the past week   allow us to describe the circumstances of the case, the investigation of which the Security Service of Ukraine began in August 2024 under the article on aiding an aggressor state, committed by a group of persons in prior conspiracy.

According to the investigation, the co-owner of Monomakh decided not to give up business in Russia after 2022 and organized a scheme to supply products to the aggressor country through covert transit through Poland to Belarus, and from there to Russia.

The BC interlocutor in law enforcement agencies confirmed that this is Taras Barabash, who has already been declared wanted by the SBU. The investigation claims that he involved Monomakh’s accountant Viktoria Polovko, as well as the head of the company’s export sales department, Oleksandr Leonov, in organizing the scheme. 

It is noted that SBU investigators managed to record the entire supply chain of products to Russia. In the customs invoices issued by the Russian company OOO “LDK”, the country of origin of tea and coffee under the brands of the Ukrainian manufacturer was indicated as Ukraine, and in some cases – Belarus.

Investigators are convinced that the organizers of the scheme knew that they were violating Ukrainian law during a full-scale war.

How the company supplied tea to both the Russians and the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The publication emphasizes that thanks to the ban on a number of Russian brands, which occupied up to 40% of the tea market in Ukraine, the revenue of Monomakh JSC has more than doubled in recent years, exceeding UAH 2.3 billion last year. Currently, the company’s share in the Ukrainian market, according to rough estimates, exceeds 25%.

It is important that in addition to producing products under its own brands, Monomakh cooperates with 80% of retailers in Ukraine (among them – ATB, METRO, Fozzy Group, Auchan, Novus), supplying them with tea and coffee under their trademarks.

According to sources among Ukrainian retailers, taking into account own brands and private labels, up to 90% of Monomakh’s sales in large chains are for tea. 

It is noted that in addition to supermarkets and shops throughout Ukraine, Monomakh also actively supplies products under state contracts for Ukrzaliznytsia, hospitals, the National Guard, and military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The company also earned money by supplying tea for dry rations purchased for the Ukrainian military.

Journalists write that Monomakh positions itself as a patriotic company in Ukraine that supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But already in the spring of 2023, the company was included in the list of Ukrainian manufacturers that continue to supply their products to Russia. At that time, Russian media  wrote that despite the full-scale war, about 40 different types of Lovare tea and Ferarra coffee could be found in Russian stores and marketplaces.

It is important that goods under the brands of the Ukrainian manufacturer can still be found on the largest marketplace in Russia, Wildberries, which collects funds from buyers and pays taxes to the budget of the aggressor state.

Also, tea under the Ukrainian brand Lovare can still be found on another popular Russian marketplace, Ozon, whose main owner is the structures of Russian oligarch Yuri Kovalchuk, who is part of Putin’s inner circle. 

(C)UNIAN 2025