Entrepreneurs from Odesa and Mykolaiv regions laundered half a billion on agricultural exports

Law enforcement officers exposed large-scale financial fraud with agricultural products worth almost half a billion hryvnias. The schemes involved entrepreneurs from Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.

This is stated in the decision of the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.

According to the investigation, a group of entrepreneurs from Mykolaiv and Odesa regions exported grain abroad through fictitious companies and "forgot" to return the foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine.

The prosecutor's office asked the court to seize property belonging to the alleged participants in the scheme: real estate, luxury cars, corporate rights and accounts. Among the companies involved in the proceedings are agricultural exporters registered in Odesa and Mykolaiv region, which according to documents sold grain to Turkey, Belarus and other countries.

The investigation involves four companies: Chernihiv Industrial Dairy Company LLC, Aquaprom Yug LLC, Arida Companies LLC, and Harvest Green LLC.

But there were no real deliveries - only fictitious documents and "cash on delivery". According to the investigation, Harvest-Grain LLC exported soybeans of Ukrainian origin to Turkey in the amount of almost half a billion hryvnias, but did not return the foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine and evaded taxes.

These are products of the 2023 harvest, allegedly produced by Chernihiv Industrial Milk Company LLC. The sender was Harvest-Grain, and the recipient was the controlled company Trinity agriculture and C.o. s.r.o.". The total weight of the exported soybeans amounted to almost 30 thousand tons, and the value according to the customs declaration was USD 11.98 million, or more than UAH 473 million at the NBU exchange rate. At the same time, the customs office issued another declaration for a much smaller amount and worth about UAH 92 million.

Law enforcement officers also found that part of the soybeans of unspecified origin was being stored in the warehouses of the Reni Sea Commercial Port for further export. In their opinion, the scheme allowed the company to avoid paying income tax and withdraw foreign currency earnings abroad.

However, the Mykolaiv court dismissed the prosecutor's motion. This case is part of a large-scale investigation. According to the available information, the defendants repeatedly created new companies, entered into fictitious contracts with foreign companies, and then transferred money to accounts abroad.

According to the investigation, the scheme may have involved conversion centers that helped businesses avoid taxes and provided money laundering services. Some of the companies involved in the proceedings have been involved in criminal cases before. The investigation is ongoing.

In early June, the Mykolaiv Shipyard Court considered the case of Oleh Afanasiev, a city council deputy from the banned OPFL party. He is accused of fraudulently seizing soybeans worth more than $800,000: according to the investigation, he staged a missile attack to hide the theft of the grain.

Анна Бальчінос