Kostyantyn Kucher is a figure who resembles a character in a political thriller. The former Ukrainian official, who headed the Defense Industry Agency under fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, has left a notorious legacy.

Using his access to the defense budget, Kucher crafted large-scale financial schemes to channel public funds into private pockets. According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, in relation to this fraud a criminal investigation was opened against him in 2012 for embezzlement of $1.5 million.

The investigation revealed that these funds were withdrawn through the state-owned Kharkiv Morozov Design Bureau. However, Kucher escaped responsibility by leaving Ukraine in 2011 and obtaining political refugee status in France.

Photo by Kostyantyn Kucher / Website of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.

Through the hacktivists of the Cyber Resistance team, the investigative journalists from the Ukrainian Channel 24 received unique materials that shed light on a new stage of Kucher’s activities.

These papers disclose his cooperation with the Russian state company Rosaviaspetskomplekt, which supplies aviation equipment to leading enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. This collaboration turned out to be not only large-scale but also deeply integrated into illegal schemes to circumvent international sanctions against Moscow.

The investigation by Channel 24 reveals how Ukrainian ex-official Kostyantyn Kucher turned into the architect of a large-scale scheme to circumvent sanctions, how he helps Russia obtain Western technologies for military aircraft, and what secrets Romanian, Spanish, and Azerbaijani companies are hiding.

See also: What is known about Putin’s shadow aviation, and what does a Serbian company have to do with it? InformNapalm’s investigation.

 

Kucher’s Romanian firm: key to saving Irkut’s contracts

Since 2014, Russia has been subject to Western sanctions that imposed restrictions on, among other things, trade and the supply of military technology. Since Russia does not have a full weapons production cycle, it has been looking for ways to circumvent sanctions when it lost the possibility to purchase weapons components directly.

This is where the story of SC NEVES 77 SOLUTIONS S.R.L. begins. This Romanian company was founded in 2014. One of its first tasks was to “save” the contract between Irkut and the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

PJSC Irkut (since 2023, Yakovlev Corporation) is a Russian aircraft manufacturing company engaged in the production of military aircraft, in particular Su-30 multi-role fighters and their modifications. This equipment is actively used by the Russian armed forces, in particular, in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The company’s products are also exported to other countries.

In December 2013, the Russian company MorspetsTechnika signed an agreement with Irkut to ensure the production of Su-30MKI aircraft, which were manufactured under license for India. Under this agreement, 473 aircraft armament kits manufactured in Ukraine were ordered.

The Su-30MKI is a two-seat, twin-jet, multi-role fighter. It was developed by the Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi. The aircraft was built under license by HAL specifically for the Indian Air Force.

The first batch of 248 planes was delivered. However, after 2014 Ukraine banned military-technical cooperation with Russia, and the rest of the equipment was never delivered. It became impossible to recover the money for undelivered products or transfer already manufactured weapons due to sanctions and severed supply chains.

Screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

In this situation, the Romanian company SC NEVES 77 SOLUTIONS S.R.L. played a key role by organizing the supply of 225 armament kits directly from Ukraine to India for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. This allowed Irkut to avoid penalties imposed by Rosoboronexport and the Indian customer by canceling the contract without financial losses.

The Romanian company was also involved in the case of causing damage to another state-owned strategic enterprise of the Ukrainian defense industry, Plant 410 Civil Aviation, Kyiv.

Screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

This information was posted on the website of the  Objednana Narodna Diya  NGO. The owners and founders of the Romanian company are former Ukrainian official Kostyantyn Kucher and his son Roman. This follows from internal documents and the positions of the Ukrainians listed there. Roman is listed as the director in the document above.

A screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

And here is his father. The family has been helping to circumvent sanctions since 2014.

 

Schemes from Spain to Kazakhstan: who is behind the shadowy maintenance of Su-30SM jets for Russia?

At the end of 2018, according to an internal memo, seen by the journalists, Irkut experienced problems with the maintenance and repair of foreign-made avionics installed on Su-30SM aircraft.

Namely, unusable internal displays and other important parts of the cockpit and the aircraft as a whole, manufactured by the French companies THALES and SAFRAN.

Screenshot of the list of equipment requiring repairs from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

In December 2018, the Russian company Rosaviaspetskomplekt signed an agreement with Irkut to supply equipment manufactured by the French companies THALES and SAFRAN. However, at the time, international sanctions were already in place that prohibited the supply of such products.

To circumvent these restrictions, Irkut proposed to use the Romanian company SC NEVES 77 SOLUTIONS S.R.L., which had already had experience in similar sanctions dodging schemes.

Screenshot of an internal memo from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

The memo also reveals that the Romanian company organized the training of two specialists who were supposed to carry out the relevant work. One of them is a Ukrainian, Roman Fetsyak, who has a residence permit in Spain.

Screenshot of Fetsyak’s passport from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

A scan of Fetsyak’s Spanish residence permit from the Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

A scan of Fetsyak’s Spanish residence permit from the Rosaviaspetscomplekt’s mail.

By 2019, the maintenance issue had become really pressing, and Irkut began to consider two parallel solutions: repairing existing equipment and purchasing new parts.

Screenshot of an internal memo from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

This is where the functions of the various companies associated with Kucher begin to branch: one track is the sourcing of new equipment, and the other is repair of the existing equipment. Let’s look at each of them separately.

 

Fetsyak, Kucher, and his wife: the trail of Ukrainians in Kazakhstan

On September 23, 2019, Rosaviaspetskomplekt CEO Piotr Gritsenko visited Kazakhstan, where a decision was taken to organize the repair of French equipment at the aircraft repair plant No. 405.

Screenshot of an information about Hrytsenko’s trip to Kazakhstan from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

A screenshot of a document from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 signs contracts for the supply of spare parts and maintenance for the French-made avionics, as well as a non-disclosure agreement with the Spanish company Aero Design System S.L. (ADS).

Screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

Screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

Screenshot of the NDA from the Rosaviaspetskomplekt mailbox

After that, ADS became the official representative of Aviation Repair Plant No. 405 for aviation equipment in the European Union.

The same agreements were prepared for signature with the Romanian company owned by Kucher. The owners of the Spanish company turned out to be Kucher and his wife, as well as Fetsyak. We mentioned him here above.

This is a list of people associated with the Spanish company ADS.

Kazakhstan’s Aircraft Repair Plant No. 405 plans to set up an avionics maintenance center. To this end, the Russian company Rosaviaspetskomplekt has signed a contract with the Kazakh firm ARC Group to legally supply equipment in need of repair to Kazakhstan.

Kazakh specialists who were trained by French companies THALES and SAFRAN arrived at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. Read more about this in this InformNapalm’s article.

 

Romanian business in Azerbaijan: why do the traces lead back to Kucher?

Although Rosaviaspetskomplekt initially collaborated with Kucher’s Romanian company, it signed an agreement on the supply of French equipment with the Azerbaijani company Global Force Technology Ltd.

Screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

In turn, Global Force Technology Ltd. signed a contract with the well-known Spanish company ADS.

Screenshot of the contract from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

The delivery was constantly postponed, and finally the Spanish side officially notified the Azerbaijani counterpart that it was impossible to supply the equipment due to European sanctions against Russia.

A screenshot of an internal letter from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

However let us take a closer look at the Azerbaijani side. At a first glance, Global Force Technology Ltd. is an independent company with no connection to Kucher, but a debt transfer agreement reveals that Kucher’s Romanian company has a branch in Azerbaijan.

Screenshot of the debt transfer agreement from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

It is registered at 12A Babek Avenue, Baku.

Screenshot of the debt transfer agreement from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

Now let’s compare it with the registration address of Global Force Technology Ltd.

Screenshot with the registration address of Global Force Technology Ltd. from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox.

The registration addresses are exactly the same, 12A Babek Ave. In addition, Kucher himself listed Global Force Technology Ltd. on LinkedIn as his employer.

Screenshot from Linkedin

In May 2021, Olga Volnova Kucher, Kostyantyn’s wife, fully transferred the shares of Neves 77 Solutions SRL to the defense company from Azerbaijan, Global Force Technology Ltd.

Screenshot from the statement on Neves 77 Solutions SRL.

 

Kucher’s German adventure

On February 10, 2022, a meeting was held in Paris between the management of the German company RED, the Azerbaijani GFT, and the Spanish ADS at the office of a law firm. The main focus was on the supply of aircraft engines in the context of international sanctions against Russia and regulatory restrictions.

In particular, they discussed the supply of three engines previously manufactured for Irkut. RED reported that these engines could not be transferred to Irkut due to a ban by the German regulator BAFA. The companies decided to use an alternative scheme of transferring the engines through ADS with subsequent resale to GFT and other parties. Accordingly, Kucher’s companies played a key role in circumventing the EU sanctions against Russia.

The participants also discussed the possibility of establishing a maintenance center in Baku and a joint flight school to minimize the risks associated with sanctions. RED representatives emphasized that violation of regulatory requirements could lead to a ban on the use of engines on any aircraft in the Russian Federation.

At the time of writing, the engines had not been delivered to Russia, and Rosaviaspetskomplekt, which was supposed to supply the engines to Irkut, was paying compensation for the default on obligatins from its own funds.

This situation illustrates the difficulties arising from international sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine and export controls on high-tech components.

 

Shadow supply: Russia gets parts for fighter jets from the U.S.

The internal correspondence of the Russian company Rosaviaspetskomplekt revealed evidence of purchases of US-made equipment from Sensata Technologies. These purchases were made in the interests of the Russian company NewTeknoService, and the subject of the supply was thermostats.

According to Anatoliy Khrapchynsky, deputy director of the company that manufactures the radar and a former Air Force officer, thermostats control the temperature in many aircraft systems, such as onboard radars, electronics, and engines.

Packing list for the thermostats, from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox

A screenshot of an internal note from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox

In addition, the company’s internal memo documented the supply of smoke generation systems made in the United States, despite Western sanctions on Russia.

According to Anatoliy Khrapchynsky, this system can be used not only to create smoke trails at air show flights but also for a smoke screens, in particular, over the Crimean bridge. Different variations of the liquid used in smoke generators can interfere with weapon guidance or target identification.

According to a screenshot of an internal email, the these supplies were organized by the previously identified Azerbaijani company Global Force Technology Ltd.

Screenshot of an internal memo from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox

Screenshot of an internal memo from Rosaviaspetskomplekt’s mailbox

 

Sanctions against Kucher and his associates?

Kostyantyn Kucher is a symbol of loopholes in Western sanctions that continue to allow Russia to access critical and sensitive Western technology for its weapon production and its military-industrial complex. His network of proxy companies in Romania, Spain, Azerbaijan, and other countries, have become the foundation for large-scale sanctions circumvention schemes.

Using front companies and persons, fictitious contracts, and complex logistics chains, the Kucher family secured the supply of aviation equipment and components from leading Western companies such as THALES and SAFRAN for Russia’s Su-30 and other military equipment utilized in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

We hope that this investigation will lead to consequences for the Kucher family in the form of sanctions from the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and our Western partners, as well as the closure of companies that help Russia continue to murder Ukrainians.

 
The original investigation by Channel 24 is available here.

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The post Leaked documents reveal how Ukrainian ex-official helps Russia circumvent sanctions appeared first on InformNapalm.org (English).