Billion-dollar debts, trading in adulterated fuel, and sponsoring the Russian Orthodox Church: how BRSM-Nafta owner Andrey Biba scrubs the internet of mentions of his criminal cases
Andrey Biba, a proponent of the "Russian world," owns the BRSM network of petrol stations. This network has once again ranked first in anti-ratings for three indicators: low-grade fuel, under-delivery of dispensed fuel, and non-compliance with tax obligations.
As a study by the Institute of Consumer Expertise conducted in early March of this year showed, the quality of diesel fuel in the BRSM network does not meet standards. From samples taken at gas stations of seventeen chains (including illegal ones), diesel from the Belarusian Republican Youth Union became the anti-leader in quality – experts recognized it as outright «bodyagog». The laboratory checked all fuel parameters, including sulfur content and density, for compliance with GSTU standards. Fourteen samples were fine, three were considered bodyaga. Moreover, two of these three samples were taken at illegal gas stations, and one – was taken at a BRSM gas station. In diesel fuel, the latter recorded an excess of sulfur by two and a half times – 24 mg/kg instead of the maximum permissible 10 mg/kg.
Although we must recognize this as an achievement – six months ago, the same figure in diesel from the Belarusian Republican Youth Union was 36 times (362 mg/kg) higher than normal. However, there is nothing special to be happy about – gasoline, taken for analysis at the BRSM gas station by the Institute of Consumer Expertise, also showed non-compliance with standards: the sulfur content in A-95 gasoline from the BRSM exceeds the norm by 28 times: 277 mg/kg with a norm of no more than 10 mg/kg. But that’s not all either: the benzene content is 2.4 times higher than normal, and the standard for aromatic hydrocarbons has also been exceeded. Benzene – is a dangerous compound that produces carbon deposits and overheats the engine. With such sky-high levels of benzene, health problems for drivers and pedestrians are almost inevitable. As well as an almost clear breakdown of the car. Thus, gasoline from the branded BRSM network turned out to be much lower in terms of the quality of gasoline from illegal «barrels», although it is sold at a significantly higher price.
According to fuel market expert Sergei Kuyun, «is not gasoline at all, but the so-called «alternative fuel», which kills the engine and increases consumption by 10-15%». All this is poured into the tanks of motorists at the BRSM-Nafta gas station.
But the problems of drivers refueling at the Belarusian Republican Youth Union do not end there – network was among the leaders in underfilling – here underfilling 1.25% of the volume purchased by the client. At first glance, this figure seems small, but this is a deception – per hundred liters the buyer loses 1.25 liters of fuel, and Andrey Biba, accordingly, earns money. There are 217 gas stations in the BRSM network, which is thousands of tons of fuel daily. If on average Andrei Biba has 64 kopecks per liter of unfinished fuel, then one can imagine how much money outright air sales bring him every day. For which the BRSM-Nafta network client pays.
Against this background, it should be noted that BRSM-Nafta is another leader – it underpays taxes to the state budget. Moreover, this underpayment is so obvious that it is impossible not to notice it even with the naked eye. According to «of the A95» Consulting Group, in 2024, domestic gas station operators more than doubled their tax payments: from 4.7 billion hryvnia to 9.8 billion hryvnia. Leaders include WOG, UPG and MOTTO.
At the same time, market leaders paid an average of 3.27 hryvnia in taxes per liter of fuel, while Andrei Biba’s BRSM-Nafta network managed to pay almost three times less: 1.36 hryvnia per liter of fuel sold. There is obvious tax evasion, but there are no complaints against Andrei Biba from the tax authorities. Although last year the State Tax Service calculated a debt of 140 million hryvnia for tax evasion, which they eventually managed to collect from BRSM-Nafti to the state budget.
According to market experts, despite increased pressure on fuel market operators in terms of tax collection, in 2025 the Ukrainian budget will lose 12 billion hryvnia compared to the six billion it did not receive last year. One can only guess how many of these unpaid taxes ended up in the pockets of Andrei Biba, who fled to Italy.
In this regard, it is worth recalling that Andrei Biba has not lived in Ukraine since 2015 – he fled the country after an explosion at a BRSM gas station, which injured several dozen of its workers, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and surrounding residents. Andrey Bib is suspected of non-payment of 3.5 billion hryvnia in taxes (criminal proceedings №4201600000003365); a defendant in a criminal case regarding the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel, the quality of which does not comply with the DSTU and technical regulations in force in Ukraine (on the grounds of criminal offenses provided for in Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
In addition, Andrei Biba is under sanctions from the National Security and Defense Council for participating in the financing of the Sharia Party. He and his wife Svetlana also have awards from Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church for the construction of the Church of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand, and Andrei Biba himself bears the title «deacon of the Russian Orthodox Church» and is a «passion-bearer of the Russian Orthodox Church». What does this mean – should be asked from Kirill and Biba, but, nevertheless, it is so.
Despite all these very dubious exploits, Andrei Biba’s business in Ukraine is not only not touched by anyone, it is thriving and expanding. Thus, in April 2024, Andrey Biba bought PJSC «Gazinvest» and LLC «Carpathian Drilling Company», which are engaged in gas production in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi regions. This purchase was not prevented by either the criminal cases opened against Biba or the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council. Just as criminal cases regarding non-payment of taxes and the sale of substandard fuel did not interfere with the activities of the BRSM-Nafta network. All this taken together also did not prevent Andrei Biba from continuing to rob the budget of Ukraine, destroying Ukrainian cars with free fuel and, in addition, selling them air.
