The Security Service of Ukraine has announced a wanted list for Taras Barabash, co-owner of one of the largest producers of tea and coffee in Ukraine, Monomakh JSC, which also owns the Lovare brand. Search information placed on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to the investigation, the company organized a scheme to supply products to Russia to circumvent sanctions, using routes through Poland and Belarus. Barabash’s disappearance was recorded on June 16, 2024 — shortly after the SBU searched the Monomakh offices and the residences of several company employees. Criminal proceedings have been opened under Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — “assistance to the aggressor state, committed by a group of persons according to a prior conspiracy.”
According to the investigation, the company established a complex logistics scheme for exporting products to Russia. Initially, the goods were sent to Poland to Lovare Sp. z o.o., registered to the head of the Monomakh export department, from there to the Belarusian Natur Technologies LLC, which was managed by the same top manager. Then the products went to Russia.
The SBU recorded that the goods were delivered to the Russian LLC “LDK”, which sold Ukrainian-made tea on the territory of the Russian Federation at least until May 2024. Companies from Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia were involved in the scheme. The Solomyan District Court of Kyiv seized the equipment of the company’s accountant, which was seized during the search, including a smartphone and a laptop. She was also sentenced to 24-hour house arrest.
Monomakh JSC is owned by Bohdan Barabash (60.05%) and Taras Barabash (39.94%). After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the disappearance from the market of Russian tea brands, which occupied up to 40% of the share, the company doubled its turnover to UAH 2.3 billion in 2024, occupying more than 25% of the tea market in Ukraine.
About a third of Monomakh’s sales (over UAH 700 million) goes to the ATB network, the rest to Metro, Varus, Silpo, Auchan, Novus and others. The company also supplies products for “Ukrzaliznytsia”, medical institutions, the National Guard and the Armed Forces under state contracts.
Despite the war, goods under the brands “Monomakh” and “Lovare” continue to be sold on Russian marketplaces. They can be found on Wildberries, which pays taxes in the Russian Federation, as well as on Ozon, which is owned by AFK Sistema, a structure of Russian oligarch Yuri Kovalchuk, who is close to Vladimir Putin.
Thus, even in the conditions of war and sanctions, Ukrainian tea did not disappear from the Russian market, bringing profit to Russian distributors and the budget of the aggressor country. This scheme is currently being investigated by the Security Service of Ukraine.
