The Solomyan District Court of Kyiv decided to seize 39.95% of the shares of the Monomakh company, one of the oldest and largest tea producers in Ukraine. Relevant information contains in the court register.
The court granted the request of the Security Service of Ukraine regarding the seizure of the property of Taras Barabash, one of the co-owners of the company, who since June 2025 is suspected of aiding the aggressor state (Article 28 Part 2 and Article 111-2 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
“Monomakh” produces coffee and tea under the brands Monomax, Lovare, “Three Elephants”, “Tea Masterpieces” and others. The investigation believes that after the start of a full-scale invasion and the introduction of a ban on trade relations with Russia, Barabash allegedly organized a scheme to covertly export products to the aggressor country.
According to the SBU, the goods from the Ukrainian factory were sent to the address of the Polish company Lovare Sp. z o. o., from there – to the Belarusian company “Natur Technologies”, and only later – to Russian buyers. Law enforcement has evidence of at least two shipments totaling more than $31,000 in December 2023 and April 2024.
In response, the Monomakh company stated that it complies with Ukrainian legislation and denies the accusations, considering the case to be politically motivated.
“We do not cooperate with the Russian Federation, we do not help Russia and we do not conduct business on the territory of an enemy state.” – said the company.
Despite this, the court accepted the SBU’s submission and seized not only the company’s corporate rights, but also the suspect’s other property — eight apartments, seven parking spaces and garages, a group of non-residential premises and four plots of land. The arrest was made with a view to possible confiscation in the event of a conviction.
