Investigation: Where Trustee's founder and his team are actually based after sanctions

Journalists conducted a detailed check of data in British, Panamanian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian registries, as well as analysed the public profiles of Trustee payment service founder Vadym Hrusha and members of his team. The material does not disclose exact residential addresses, only the cities and countries that appear in documents or that the individuals themselves mentioned in public sources.

Absence of British assets

A check of the Companies House database found no directors or owners with the surnames Hrusha, Zhytomyrska, Kutsenko, Kalashnikov, Demianenko, or Kukietu. Additionally, the companies MikePay, Trustee, and BlockSoftLab are not registered in the United Kingdom. The only British structure linked to this case is Wirex — the issuer of the new card, which does not belong to Trustee. This means that Hrusha has no British legal protection.

Panamanian and American companies

In the Panamanian registry, Vadym Hrusha is not listed as a director of any company. The owner of the app in the App Store and Google Play is MikePay inc. (registration number 155764322). Among the officers of this structure are Mykhailo Kutsenko, Danylo Demianenko, Lyudmyla Kukietu, and a local nominee. The beneficial owner of this company is not disclosed in open data. Previously, the provider of Trustee Wallet was Blocksoftlab inc. from the state of Delaware (USA, number 7176888), whose ownership data is also closed.

Lithuanian structure under sanctions pressure

The Lithuanian company UAB Trustee Global (code 306099031) changed its address from Vilnius to Šiauliai. Vadym Hrusha has managed this structure since 5 January 2026. According to the Lithuanian service Rekvizitai, the company's credit risk is assessed as the highest. The sole shareholder, according to Lithuanian data, is a foreign individual.

Ukrainian registration and actual location

In Ukraine, LLC "Trustee Global" (code 45058862) is registered in Vinnytsia, which occurred on 1 December 2022. Vadym Hrusha's share is 75%, and Dmytro Kalashnikov's is 25%.

Although the Ukrainian Wikipedia still states that Hrusha lives and works in Vinnytsia, in 2026 he himself told the Young Business Club: «Зараз у мене немає постійного місця проживання, але найкраще місто світу Вінниця» (I currently do not have a permanent place of residence, but the best city in the world is Vinnytsia).

His profile on the F6S platform indicates Split (Croatia). In April, approximately one month before the introduction of Polish sanctions, in his Telegram channel "Vadym Hrusha Trustee Plus", he announced the brand's move to the new domain trustee io and set a geotag for Limassol (Cyprus). It is in Cyprus, Croatia, and Lithuania that traces of the founder are visible in open sources today, not in Vinnytsia.

Geography of the team's dispersion

Co-founder and Technical Director Ksenia Zhytomyrska, who calls herself a minority owner, lists Ukraine on LinkedIn. According to her, she became interested in cryptocurrency while working in India.

Operations Director Mykhailo Kutsenko also lists Ukraine. Head of Growth Danylo Demianenko lists Poland — the country that added the Trustee operator to its sanctions list. Senior Legal Counsel Lyudmyla Kukietu, a lawyer with a certificate from 2009, lists Portugal. Dmytro Kalashnikov appears only as a co-owner of the Vinnytsia company; there is no other public geodata about him.

The people managing the app for Ukrainian users are scattered between Ukraine, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, and Cyprus. The legal owner of the app is located in Panama, the operator in Lithuania (under Polish sanctions), and the card in London. Users with blocked funds have nowhere to turn: none of these addresses is an office where they are responsible for the money.

Questions for Vadym Hrusha: Where do you live and from where do you manage the company? Who is the sole shareholder of UAB Trustee Global? Did you appeal the Polish decision in court?