Kherson grain under Russian rules: who profited from the Ukrainian harvest

After the occupation of the Kherson region, Russians registered more than 3,000 companies, many of which are owned by former deputies and officials of the region. These companies now operate under Russian law and export stolen grain.

This was reported by Vgoru, whose journalists analyzed a number of enterprises in the occupied Kherson region.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of the Kherson region, thousands of new companies appeared in the Russian register. Most of them had previously operated in Ukraine, but after the occupation were either seized or their owners voluntarily switched to Russian law. Last year, some enterprises on the left bank earned hundreds of millions of rubles, and taxes from their activities actually finance the war.

Among the most profitable enterprises is the Kherson Grain Company, registered by the occupiers in July 2022. The company specializes in warehousing, growing grain, and wholesale trade in grain.

It is headed by Sergiy Kiva, who previously worked for large agricultural companies in Ukraine and had international contacts in China and Morocco. Kiva and his team are planning to reorganize the company into a joint-stock company and create an agricultural holding with 50,000 hectares, as well as a bakery, oil extraction and feed mills. Stolen grain from the left bank is exported to Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria.

Another profitable company is Agro-Business Plus, founded by Russian citizen Tatyana Yakovleva, and her husband Albert Babayev has a criminal record. Court cases confirm that the company was engaged in the export of Ukrainian grain and illegally enriched itself on taxes and sales contracts.

Another example is the Renaissance company. The founders of the new Russian clone were a married couple from occupied Melitopol, while Artem Berezdecky, who was in the government-controlled territory, remained the actual head.

An analysis of the enterprises in the occupied Kherson region shows that many of them are controlled by people associated with parliamentary mandates in Ukraine, and their activities are directly related to the export of Ukrainian grain. Most of the companies specialize in the cultivation of cereals and legumes, as well as in the wholesale trade of grain.

Thus, in the occupied Kherson region, a mechanism for making millions of dollars in profits through agribusiness has been formed, working in favor of the aggressor state, while local Ukrainian enterprises have lost control of their facilities and land.

Occupied Crimea has become a key center for the export of stolen Ukrainian grain. Millions of tons of products from the occupied territories are exported annually through local ports, registered through fictitious documents, shell companies and shadow fleets.

Анна Бальчінос