15 December 2025
(PHOTO: BAB)
Detectives of the Territorial Department of the Bureau of Economic Security in Odesa region exposed an agricultural trader who tried to illegally export 7,500 tons of soybeans.
According to the BES press service, the cargo was headed to Turkey and Romania.
Using forged documents on the origin of agricultural products, the suspects tried to create the appearance of legal business transactions and thus evade taxes.
Detectives found that the suspects tried to export products whose origin was not documented through supply chains with fictitious enterprises and individual entrepreneurs.
During the searches in the Odesa port and at grain terminals in Chernivtsi region, the BES detectives seized more than 6,000 tons of soybeans loaded on a ship and 1,600 tons of soybeans in 32 railroad cars. The total value of the seized products is over UAH 103 million.
The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (intentional tax evasion) is ongoing.
Earlier, law enforcement officers detained a Russian vessel in the Odesa seaport. The ship was used to illegally export Ukrainian agricultural products through the temporarily occupied Crimea. The investigation found that the bulk carrier regularly called at Crimean ports closed by Ukraine, violating national legislation and international maritime law.
In January 2021, the ship illegally loaded more than 6.9 thousand tons of Ukrainian wheat at the Sevastopol Commercial Sea Port and exported it to an African country. In December 2025, the ship's captain, who was in charge of the ship at the time, was suspected of violating the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory.
Кирило Бойко