In order to detect offences in the tax sphere, specialists of the Department of Information Analysis and Risk Management of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine analysed the applications of more than 4,500 enterprises for reimbursement of UAH 21 billion. value added tax. The applications of 225 enterprises for UAH 3.3 billion were established, the legality of the VAT reimbursement of which caused doubts among ESBU analysts. Of them, thanks to the preventive measures of the Bureau's employees, illegal VAT reimbursement from the budget in the amount of UAH 1.3 billion has already been prevented.

The vast majority of the above-mentioned companies submitted applications for product balances imported during 2021-2022.

During the study of the activities of these business entities, ESBU detectives established the absence of export operations, information on the sale of goods in accounting and tax records, and their absence in warehouses. This may indicate the implementation of transactions for the sale of goods and material values for cash without displaying such sales transactions in the unified register of tax invoices, tax and financial statements of these companies.

As part of the pre-trial investigations, the appropriate evidence base was collected regarding the dubious budgetary reimbursement of VAT by a number of business entities. For example, among the mentioned enterprises there are those registered at gas stations, on land plots where construction work is being carried out.

Some of the fictitious heads of the SGD are persons who do not have a permanent place of residence, or have no relation to the activities of the mentioned companies. Several companies have been established that actually do not provide premises for rent, although companies with fictitious activities are registered at their addresses. Such cases are not isolated. All this testifies to the fictitiousness of the financial and economic activity of the enterprises - violators of the legislation.

According to the results of the inspection of legal addresses, offices and warehouses, the absence of financial and economic activity of more than 50 enterprises, half of them are registered in the Lviv region.

The activities of such risky enterprises lead to the shadowing of the economy and the weakening of the economic security of the state.

In order to minimise and eliminate threats to the economic security of Ukraine from the activities of the mentioned enterprises, the ESBU employees sent 40 recommendations to the State Tax Service for verification of the reliability of the calculation of the budget VAT refund. In addition, 5 recommendations for more than a hundred enterprises were sent to the SBI.

Pre-trial investigations in criminal proceedings, on the grounds of the offence provided for in Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (appropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it by abuse of official position) carried out by detectives of the main unit of detectives of the ESBU under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office continue.