Journalists noted that the company's founder, Vladimir Mechev, publicly rejected such assumptions.
"Today, friends started sending me articles in the media that were clearly aimed at discrediting me. I read about my alleged connections with businessman Viktor Polishchuk. I want to emphasize right away: this is an absolute lie that has nothing to do with reality," he stated.
However, hromadske obtained a document confirming the winning company's connections with Viktor Polishchuk. It concerns a memorandum of understanding signed in 2020 between Alexander Klimenko and LLC "BK 'Millennium'". In the document, Polishchuk is listed as a guarantor on behalf of the buyer of the premises of the "Gulliver" shopping center.
In 2024, the property of the shopping center was seized and transferred to the management of ARMA due to suspicions of tax evasion amounting to nearly 146 million UAH. An investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) revealed that from 2019 to 2021, the leaders of the "Gulliver" shopping center evaded tax payments, particularly through fictitious repairs exceeding 800 million UAH.
"The BEB established that from 2019 to 2021, the leaders of the 'Gulliver' shopping center evaded tax payments by purchasing goods and services that did not actually exist. We are talking about the company 'Tri O' and its director, who has been handed a suspicion," said BEB spokesperson Alena Matveeva.
Investigators also found that the company "Tri O" continues to conduct dubious operations, particularly through the shell company "Spetsenergomontazh LTD". In 2024, the "Gulliver" shopping center was supposed to pay this firm 107 million UAH for works that likely were not carried out.