A businessman from the Kherson region was growing grain for the enemy

Vasyl Malik, the head of an agricultural enterprise in the Kherson region, was sentenced for collaborating with Russian entities during the occupation. Instead of ceasing operations, he brought the company under Russian law and continued its business activities in the occupied territory.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

As the court determined, in March 2023, Malik, the director and co-founder of Otrada-Agro LLC, registered a company of the same name under Russian law without the consent of the other owners. In the Russian documents, he was listed as the head, while the three co-owners of the Ukrainian company remained listed as founders.

The new company continued to grow grains, legumes, and oilseeds; engage in crop production; perform post-harvest processing; and conduct wholesale trade in agricultural products. It was registered for tax purposes in Russia and enrolled in the “Cerber” system of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor). The system also listed a warehouse in the village of Otradivka, Novotroitsk Community.

From March 2023 to August 2024, the company cultivated land in the occupied territory of the Henichesk District. To carry out its operations, the company interacted with Russian tax authorities and the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, and sold the harvested produce.

Otrada-Agro LLC has been in operation since 2005. Before the start of the full-scale war, the company cultivated over 3,000 hectares in the Novotroitsk community. One of the co-founders told the court that after learning about the re-registration in the Russian Federation, he contacted the businessman. The latter explained his actions as a desire to “save the company.”

In August 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) notified Malik in absentia that he was a suspect in collaboration activities.

Additionally,Valery Saltikov, a member of the Kherson Regional Council,had his boat, equipment, and fouragricultural companies seized. According to investigators, he and another individual re-registered their agricultural enterprises in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region under Russian law.

Анна Бальчінос