The owner of the Rubizhansk cardboard packaging plant was recognized as a collaborator

The Chechelivsky District Court of Dnipro found Gennady Minin, the owner of the “Rubizhne Cardboard and Packaging Plant” and a former district council member representing the pro-Russian OPZZh party, guilty of collaboration. 

The businessman was sentenced to three years in prison and barred from holding public office for 10 years; however, he was granted a one-year probationary period and exempted from serving the main sentence. The leniency in the sentence was due to the defendant’s sincere remorse, his cooperation with the investigation, and his donation of over one million hryvnias to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

According to the investigation, in 2021, Minin’s company signed a contract with a Russian manufacturer for the supply of equipment worth over 1.1 million euros. After the start of the full-scale invasion, despite the government’s official ban on importing goods from the aggressor state, the director continued financial cooperation with Russia and transferred the remaining balance under the contract—amounting to over 382 thousand euros—to the Russian supplier. During the court hearing, the businessman fully admitted his guilt and stated that he acted solely to pay salaries to employees and save the business, which had found itself in a difficult situation as a result of Russia’s armed aggression.

This was reported by the investigative journalism project “Schemes” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). 

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrposhta Director Ihor Smiliansky signed a contract with TPK LLC, which is owned by businessman Hennadiy Minin. Smiliansky’s so-called partner holds a Russian passport and owns businesses both in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories.