Death for Profit: How Corruption Has Infiltrated Ukraine’s Funeral Industry

As the people of Ukraine endure the long shadow of nearly three-year-long war, death is a constant specter. While the number of military casualties is estimated in the hundreds of thousands, civilian deaths are also mounting; in fact, civilian casualties in Ukraine were 27% higher from January to October 2025, compared to the same period last year.

From a deathcare perspective, one might assume that Ukrainian funeral professionals would be overwhelmed by families knocking down their doors in need of funeral services. Sadly, though, the plethora of deaths has instead led to a corrupt cottage industry, where private “funeral operators” are in a macabre race to secure bodies — laws and ethics be damned.

Body hunters

Multiple investigations by international and Ukrainian outlets reveal a pattern of bribery, price-gouging and outright predatory practices that target bereaved families and exploit the state’s efforts to honor the fallen. 

Journalists describe a rise of so-called “body hunters” — private funeral operators who race to battle sites, hospitals and morgues to secure the dead, sometimes by bribing police, ambulance crews or medical staff for early information. Those informants receive payments for tips; funeral firms then push overpriced services onto families or leverage contracts with local authorities. 

“We are looking for bodies,” a 16-year employee of Ukrainian deathcare leader Anubis told Le Mond. “In order to arrive first, we have informal agreements with the police, hospitals and morgues, who are the first to notify us of the death in exchange for financial compensation. It’s not corruption, it’s called buying information.”

Concentrated corruption

In addition to the competition to secure civilian burials, investigators have documented corruption tied to government procurement for military burials. In several regions, contracts for transporting bodies, coffins or headstones were awarded at inflated prices with suspected kickbacks to officials — a practice that turns state funerary support into another revenue stream for corrupt networks. The Wall Street Journal reported that one regional probe uncovered inflated tombstone contracts where the margin was split among contractors and officials. 

The economic incentives are stark. Rising casualties create demand for transport, storage, embalming, coffins and memorials; where oversight is weak, this demand becomes lucrative. Families already reeling from loss report feeling pressured to accept services and fees they cannot refuse, while honest funeral operators say they are squeezed out if they refuse to participate in kickback schemes. 

“If I don’t approve of these methods, my plate will be empty,” the deathcare veteran told Le Mond. “The funeral business is similar to prostitution, drug trafficking and gambling, but no one wants to talk about it openly.”

Ukrainian authorities have not been entirely blind to the problem. The Ministry for Community and Territorial Development drew up anti-corruption measures for the sector in 2022, and some local investigations have led to arrests. But reform efforts have struggled to keep pace with wartime chaos, overstretched institutions and political pressure — limiting their reach and effectiveness. And while starkly honest statements to international media, like those from the Anubis employee, draw attention to the problem, they do little to actually help the problem.

Public funeral home operator Propel Funeral Partners released their Fiscal Year 2025 results recently and the results which cover the period of July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, show higher revenue and higher net profits for the company.  On the downside, however, Propel Funeral Partners (PFP) showed a contraction in funeral volumes among “comparable” funeral homes for the year.

As for the revenue and profits for the largest public Death Care company in Australia and New Zealand, the company recorded Revenue of US$ 148.74 million for FY25 as compared to US$137.81 million in FY24 — that’s an increase of about 7.9%.  PFP posted an increase in “Net Profit Before Taxes” of US$ 20.09 million in FY25 as compared to US$ 19.7 million in FY24 — that’s an increase of right at 2.0%.

Propel Funeral Partners did a funeral volume of 22,602 cases in FY25 which is actually 4.4% higher than the previous year.  However, not including new acquisitions and only “comparable” businesses the company reported a decline of 1% of voume in those funeral homes.  And according to their 2025 Full-Year Announcement, that you can access here, that’s on top of a contraction of 6% of “comparable” funeral volumes in FY24.

Again, according to that announcement, PFP added, via acquisition during FY25, three businesses that “focus on their core strategy of acquiring assets and social infrastructure which operate in the Death Care industry in Australia and New Zealand”.  Those businesses included two funeral home operators and a supplier of headstones and monuments.  All acquisitions in FY 25 came in the country of New Zealand where it appears that 65 of Propel’s 205 operating units are located.

In terms of the company’s outlook in their Full-Year Announcement the company made the following comments about what they will benefit from:

•  Favorable demographics in Australia and New Zealand
• PFP’s strong funding position
• Acquisitions to date and other potential future acquisitions

The company also noted that the 2026 fiscal year has started strongly by:

• Record monthly revenue in July 2025 — Monthly revenue of US$ 14.08 million
• Average Revenue Per Funeral growth of 2.7%
• Contributions from recent acquisitions

Click here for the Propel Funeral Partner’s FY 2025 Results Presentation.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I strongly suggest taking a look at the company’s Results Presentation.  I’ve always thought that comparing what the “Big Boys” are doing with the results of my own operations was a good exercise.

I found two items that would concern me about Propel’s financial operations.  First of all, nobody likes a decline in volume . . . and I believe that the larger operation one operates the more that is a concern.  I say that because a 100-call funeral operation can easily have a 10% increase or reduction simply by the highs or lows of deaths in the area.

However, when you operate 205 facilities in two different countries the numbers are greater and should balance out between one community doing an increase in a year and other operations doing a decrease in services a year.  Simply speaking, you are not just looking at the 12-month results of a 100-call funeral home.  That being said, the 1% decrease in “comparable” services is within a range of potential variances, but I would keep a watch on the number to find out if it becomes a trend.

Secondly, and an issue that many in the retail Death Care business have right now is the “Revenue per service” number.  First of all, an increase in cremation services tends to drive that revenue average down, but the inflationary price pressures funeral homes face means that we cannot allow that number to go down too far.

Propel Funeral Partners mentions that their FY25 Revenue per service US$ 4,427. . . .an increase of 2.3% over FY24.  Propel’s report says that is “in line with inflation”.

Proving my point about comparing data with the public companies —  The following was written in the NFDA Memorial Business Journal and recieved in my Inbox as I was writing this article:

“When it comes to running any type of business, data is worth more than its weight in gold. According to research by McKinsey & Company, companies that make extensive use of their analytics data are nearly three times likelier to have a higher ROI (Return on Investment) than their competition. They’re also 23 times likelier to acquire more customers than their competition and nine times likelier to retain more customers.”

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