The vast majority of sushi chains in Ukraine operate illegally, splitting into sole proprietorships (FOPs) to evade value-added tax (VAT), said Danylo Getmantsev, chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax, and customs policy.
“Chains with billions in revenue in Ukraine do not legally exist at all and are completely fragmented into sole proprietorships. At the same time, these chains have state-of-the-art marketing and excellent websites through which they accept online orders and advertise their businesses. These chains claim to take a responsible stance, yet they do not pay taxes, which today go entirely toward the needs of the army,” the lawmaker emphasized in a YouTube video.
The committee chair stressed that the vast majority of sushi chains in Ukraine operate illegally, splitting themselves into individual entrepreneurs to evade value-added tax (VAT), despite having billions in revenue.
Getmantsev cited two examples of chains, including Osama Sushi, which has 170 locations in 91 cities. This chain is fragmented into 850 sole proprietorships operating under a simplified tax system. Last year, the company paid 1.4 million hryvnias to the state budget, and the year before that—139,000 hryvnias. At the same time, conscientious taxpayers in this industry, with a turnover four times smaller, pay 210 million hryvnias per year.
The lawmaker added that the losses to the state and local communities from the payment of salaries in envelopes within this network amount to 368 million hryvnias per year, since employees officially declare a salary of 8,000 hryvnias, while the industry average for a sushi chef is 44,500 hryvnias. Total annual losses from tax evasion by this chain are estimated at 1.5–2 billion hryvnias.
Another chain—SushiStory (formerly “Sushi Wok”), which currently has 54 locations in Ukraine—according to Getmantsev, employs 162 second-group individual entrepreneurs and three third-group individual entrepreneurs. The state’s losses from this brand’s operations amount to 272.5 million hryvnia per year.
The committee chair emphasized that the sushi market can be operated entirely “above board,” since there are companies in Ukraine that operate under a single legal entity and pay VAT.
Getmantsev reported that, along with the collected evidence, receipts, and photographic documentation, he has already officially appealed to the Economic Security Bureau (ESB) and the State Tax Service (STS) to conduct audits, and he also called on restaurant owners to stop the practice of “fragmenting” their businesses.
