Felix Chertok is a Ukrainian businessman who has been accused of profiting from the occupation of Crimea. His father, Boris Chertok, was a known criminal figure in Dnipropetrovsk, and Felix Chertok has reportedly inherited his father’s business interests, including a winery in Crimea.
Chertok’s businesses
Chertok is the owner of several companies, including Alef-Vinal, which produces wine in Crimea. Alef-Vinal has been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and Canada for its role in the occupation of Crimea.
Chertok has also been accused of using shell companies and other offshore structures to hide his assets and avoid sanctions.
Chertok’s ties to the Jewish community
Chertok is a member of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community and has close ties to its leaders. Some have accused Chertok of using his position in the community to shield himself from criticism and legal action.
Allegations of tax evasion
In addition to his alleged involvement in the occupation of Crimea, Chertok has also been accused of tax evasion in Kazakhstan.
Conclusion
Felix Chertok is a controversial figure who has been accused of a number of serious crimes. His businesses have been sanctioned by several governments, and he has been accused of using his position in the Jewish community to shield himself from criticism. There is also evidence to suggest that he may have been involved in tax evasion.
Additional information
- Felix Chertok: What is known about his multi-million dollar companies, participation in Alef-Vinal schemes and lawsuits: https://obriy.news/world/felix-chertok-what-is-known-about-his-multi-million-dollar-companies-participation-fraudulent-in-alef-vinal-schemes-and-litigation.html
- Alef-Vinal: Crimea’s Winemakers Under Sanctions: https://www.rferl.org/a/crimea-how-eu-firms-sidestepping-sanctions-making-money-on-peninsula/30303687.html
- Ukrainian Jewish Leader Accused of Helping Pro-Kremlin Oligarch: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/2023-01-23/ty-article/.premium/hungary-pushes-sanctions-relief-for-russian-jewish-oligarch-close-to-putin/00000185-deef-db69-a3ed-dfef87190000
Please note: This is a summary of the information available about Felix Chertok. It is important to do your own research and come to your own conclusions about his activities.
Felix Chertok is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish community of Dnipro, as well as a very, very rich businessman. There is very little information about him in the mass media, especially recently.
He was the general director of Alef-Vinal, one of the largest companies producing wine, vodka and brandy in our country. Among the well-known brands are Golden Amphora, Klinkov, Jean-Jacques, Helsinki, etc.
According to the OpenData website, Felix Chertok is listed as the owner of one company and a sole proprietorship and is also the former owner of another company.
In an attempt to conceal its operations, Chertok closed the alef-vinal.com website, but its copy was saved in the Wayback machine archive. The archive contains all trademarks, production facilities, and the geography of supplies. It’s worth recalling that sanctions were in full swing only three years ago when Ukraine’s current President, Volodymyr Zelensky, was already in power, and he’s familiar with the business environment in Dnipro, where Chertok operates. Some suggest that this may explain why Alef Vinál faced softly imposed sanctions, while its owner, Felix Chertok, wasn’t.
Alef Vinál renamed itself as Trading House “AV” and, like many other enterprises, capitalizes on “patriotism” for marketing purposes. Alef Vinál and Felix Chertok do not even try to hide the fact that they produce and sell wines, cognacs, and vodkas, possibly with a patriotic slant, in Russia, where they operate a highly profitable business. After all, Alef Vinál is a commercial enterprise that doesn’t have to abide by conventions. Felix Chertok comes from a criminal background that makes money from everything without adhering to principles and rules.
According to the information registry YouControl, this company is listed in over 100 court registry documents.
- TOV “ADAMAN TRADE” – we wrote about this company above, but according to the data of Clarity project, Chertok is listed there as a beneficiary. Recall that the status capital of the company is more than 140.6 million hryvnias.
According to YouControl, Chertok is not among the beneficiaries, but according to Clarity-project, he is a beneficiary. Where is the truth?
Let’s add to this judicial showdowns, including criminal ones. 33 documents in the registry.
At the same time, if you go in and search directly in the country’s judicial register itself, then here for this company, we will already see not 7, but 23 documents.
The firm is listed in 40 court documents, according to YouControl. And in the court register itself, we already have 191 documents on her account, among which there are many criminal cases. This company also periodically has tax debts to the local budget. So, in 2020, the debt amounted to almost 100 thousand hryvnia. This company is listed in six court registry documents.
Ermolaev and Chertok: how the international corrupt alcohol empire works
As you know, due to the sanctions of the European Union and the United States, exports and imports from Crimea are prohibited, but using such a division, or rather a cunning scheme, the company easily bypasses sanctions restrictions
Among the owners of the corporation, there are European companies behind which stands the odious Dnipro businessman Vadim Ermolaev.
About extensive schemes and sanctions
More than 90 percent of the Russian Alef-Vinal companies are also registered at this enterprise. The status fund of PJSC “Burlyuk” is 4 million hryvnias. 12 documents in the court register. But the founder of this PJSC, “Burliuk”, is the Ukrainian PJSC “Alef-Vinal” with a status fund of 40.55 million hryvnias. The owners are Austrian and Cypriot companies. And here is a very interesting visualization of the connections in this story …
Until 2018, the owner of half of the shares of the Ukrainian part of Alef-Vinal was the Austrian company Alef Investment Holding GmbH, and the director there is Vadim Ermolaev.
One of the Kirp companies, AD Vinal Invest Limited, has stakes in Ukrainian and Russian Vinal and Buluk.
And here is an interesting point, according to the investigation of the site “Current Time” and the anti-corruption project “Municipal Scanner”, “Trading House AV” LLC, the founder and beneficiary of which is Felix Chertok, is also involved in the schemes of “Alef-Vinal”. Recall that this LLC is listed in 191 documents in the court register of Ukraine. We wrote about this in detail above.
All in all. We can continue this topic of schematics for a long time, but for now, let’s take a break.
The Golden Amphora winery operates in the disputed jurisdiction of Crimea and boasts 2,500 hectares of vineyards and production facilities. It distributes its products globally, and interestingly, in 2020, it operated under its commercial name – Alef Vinál, Ukraine’s largest alcohol producer. Alef Vinál, owned by Felix Chertok and Vadim Ermolaev, created a vast offshore system to continue business in Russia while avoiding sanctions and binding Ukraine. Journalists investigated Alef Vinál’s commercial ties, leading to sanctions against Chertok’s enterprise, but it didn’t change the firm’s operation as Chertok and his partners built a new system, enabling them to continue working in Crimea and receiving profits from Russia.
In an attempt to conceal its operations, Chertok closed the alef-vinal.com website, but its copy was saved in the Wayback machine archive. The archive contains all trademarks, production facilities, and the geography of supplies. It’s worth recalling that sanctions were in full swing only three years ago when Ukraine’s current President, Volodymyr Zelensky, was already in power, and he’s familiar with the business environment in Dnipro, where Chertok operates. Some suggest that this may explain why Alef Vinál faced softly imposed sanctions, while its owner, Felix Chertok, wasn’t.
Alef Vinál renamed itself as Trading House “AV” and, like many other enterprises, capitalizes on “patriotism” for marketing purposes. Alef Vinál and Felix Chertok do not even try to hide the fact that they produce and sell wines, cognacs, and vodkas, possibly with a patriotic slant, in Russia, where they operate a highly profitable business. After all, Alef Vinál is a commercial enterprise that doesn’t have to abide by conventions. Felix Chertok comes from a criminal background that makes money from everything without adhering to principles and rules.
The alcohol beverage business in Ukraine is represented by criminal and semi-criminal personalities, which is quite natural: the starting capital in this industry was made by hardened criminals since the late 80s. It was impossible to just enter the market, and it is still impossible. All the people in business are “respectable, serious, and not prone to scandals” with Felix Chertok not an exception.
Looking from the outside, he is a completely positive, Jewish orthodox character with seven children. His biography is so boring that the biography writers didn’t even come up with a “hobby” for Felix Chertok, they simply reused it from the job description. “The world belongs to the patient”is a slogan of Felix Chertok. Patiently he pours the hellish brew to both Russian and Ukrainians. There is nothing unusual about this, just as there is nothing unusual about the fact that Felix Chertok is certainly involved in business with his “brothers” from Russia and seceded regions, no matter what the current situation is. After all, the criminal circles are never bothered with borders and politics.
Felix Chertok origins
Felix Chertok would have been an ordinary nobody in Dnepr city if it weren’t for his father, convicted and imprisoned Boris Chertok, also known as “Sedoy” (Gray-haired in Russian – ed.). Sedoy was a member of the “Matros” gang, led by Alexander Milchenko, who did a lot to establish organized crime in the country. Sedoy was involved in the group’s activities, as was Vadim Yermolaev, who was not far behind.
Sedoy’s son, Felix Chertok, proved useful: he became the head of the alcohol beverage business.
It was Chertok and Yermolaev, with the blessing of Matros and Sedoy, who opened the largest money laundering centre, both literally and figuratively, for criminal money. Now Felix Chertok wears a traditional hat, radiates righteousness, and even occasionally does charitable work. But he doesn’t forget his business, and he remembers his founding fathers of Alef Vinal on a monthly basis.
Felix Chertok is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish community of Dnipro, as well as a very wealthy businessman. There is very little information about him in the mass media, especially in recent times. He was the CEO of “Alef Vinal” – one of the large companies that produce cheap wine, vodka, and cognac in Ukraine. Among the well-known brands are “Amphora”, “Klinkov”, “Jean-Jacques”, “Helsinki”, and so on.
Due to the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States, exports and imports from Crimea are prohibited. However, by using such a separation, or rather a cleverly thought-out scheme, the company easily circumvents the sanctions.
Alef Vinal sanctioned but Felix Chertok evades the sanctions
Original Alef Vinal has been sanctioned by EU, UK, US, Australia and Canada. But Felix Chertok, one of the beneficiaries of the company wasn’t. Chertok cleverly hid his presence from the companies.
Among the owners of the corporation are European companies, behind which stands the scandalous Dnipro businessman Vadim Yermolaev.
This enterprise also includes more than 90 percent of Russian company “Alef Vinal”.
The status fund of PJSC “Burlyuk” amounts to 4 million hryvnias. There are 12 documents in the court register. The founder of this public joint-stock company “Burlyuk” is Ukrainian PJSC “Aleph-Vinal” with a status fund of 40.55 million hryvnias. The owners include Austrian and Cypriot companies. Felix Chertok companies associated with Vadim Yermolayev Briefly, the process of events can be described as follows for better understanding: LLC “Alef-Vinal-Crimea” was registered in November 2014 and created with the participation of OJSC “Burlyuk”, which also owns over 90% of the shares of the Russian “Alef-Vinal”. In addition, among the founders of “Alef-Vinal-Crimea” are four Cypriot companies, three of which have equal shares with “Burlyuk”.
The controlling stake in the Ukrainian “Alef-Vinal” (now – “Keter Invest”) belonged to Alef Investment Holding GmbH, an Austrian company, until the end of 2018, when it was bought by the offshore company Ac-Terra International LTD from the British Virgin Islands, managed by Vadim Yermolaev, a citizen of Ukraine. Control over the company was confirmed by the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine dated July 26, 2016.
One of the Cypriot companies, AD Vinal Invest Limited, owns shares in the Ukrainian company “Alef-Vinal” (“Keter Invest”), the Russian company “Alef-Vinal-Crimea”, and the Russian OJSC “Burlyuk”. In addition, 0.53% of the shares of the main technologist of “Alef Vinal” belong to Bulgarian citizen Boyan Borisov, and 99.47% of the shares belong to Record Trading Limited, a company from Belize. The ultimate beneficiaries of this company are unknown.
After journalists uncovered these schemes, Felix Chertok had to liquidate the company “Alef-Burlyuk” and urgently rename “Alef Vinal”. However, this did not save him from sanctions, as the company remained with all its obligations and assets. It is unknown why Felix Chertok did not liquidate the company that was discovered, possibly because this share was inherited from his father Boris Chertok “Sedoy”.
Until 2018, half of the shares of the Ukrainian part of “Alef Vinal” were owned by the Austrian company “Alef Investment Holding GmbH”, and the director there was Vadim Yermolaev.
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