Ukrainian court opens bankruptcy case against former tobacco market monopolist Tedis Ukraine

The Economic Court of Odesa Region has opened bankruptcy proceedings against Tedis Ukraine LLC, which for a long time served as the country’s largest distributor of tobacco products, according to a court ruling.

Pursuant to the April 23, 2026, ruling in case No. 916/1231/26, the proceedings were initiated by Accord Gold LLC (Kyiv). The grounds for the action involve a debt amounting to UAH 38.06 million under a supply contract dated July 31, 2025.

According to case files, the debtor received a prepayment exceeding UAH 57 million but only partially fulfilled its obligations. Although the parties terminated the contract in November 2025, the debt, which Tedis Ukraine fully acknowledged, was never repaid.

In its response to the creditor’s petition, Tedis Ukraine confirmed the de facto cessation of its business operations and a lack of funds to meet its financial obligations.

The court has introduced a procedure for the disposal of the debtor’s property and established a moratorium on the satisfaction of creditors’ claims. Artem Danylov has been appointed as the arbitration manager (receiver).

The distributor has been under significant pressure from law enforcement and antitrust authorities in recent years. In October 2025, the South-Western Economic Court of Appeal froze the company’s accounts as part of a UAH 548 million lawsuit filed by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) for fines and penalties related to the abuse of a monopoly position. Additionally, the Bureau of Economic Security initiated the seizure of the company’s fleet of over 450 vehicles in a tax evasion case involving UAH 270 million.

As recently as 2023, Tedis Ukraine was among Ukraine’s top 10 private companies with revenue of UAH 61.53 billion. However, the termination of contracts with key manufacturers, including Philip Morris and JTI, led to a rapid collapse in income.

According to the Opendatabot service, the distributor’s revenue has effectively vanished over the past two years, falling to UAH 4.49 million at the end of 2025. The company’s net loss last year was UAH 21.5 million. During the reporting period, the company’s assets decreased 16.7% to UAH 780.27 million, while liabilities fell to UAH 643.72 million. The distributor’s dire situation is further evidenced by mass layoffs: within two years, the official headcount dropped 19-fold, from 767 employees in 2023 to just 40 workers at the end of 2025.

Tedis Ukraine LLC (formerly Megapolis-Ukraine) was registered in Odesa in 1999 with a charter capital of UAH 14.65 million. The ultimate beneficiaries are British citizens Richard Mark Taylor Duxbury and Richard Dorian Fenhalls, as well as Ukrainian Danylo Roschenko. Odesa businessman Borys Kaufman was considered the company’s key owner until 2024. In April 2026, the company underwent a change in leadership, with Oleksandr Nesterenko taking over as director.