14 June 2025
(COLLAGE: Apostrophe)
The owner of the Mykolaiv Agricultural Company is suspected of having ties to Russian business. The court upheld the seizure of millions of dollars in accounts.
This is stated in the ruling of the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.
The court of Mykolaiv refused to lift the seizure of the bank accounts of Mykolaiv Agrarian Company. Despite the lawyer's statements that the company is not involved in criminal proceedings, the court upheld the arrest because of the company's owner's ties to Russian legal entities and the alleged payment of taxes to the Russian budget.
The company's accounts in Ukrainian banks were in hryvnia, dollars and euros. The company asked to unblock the funds, claiming that the arrest paralyzes its business activities, prevents it from paying taxes and jeopardizes the fulfillment of contracts.
A representative of the agricultural firm stated in court that Mykolaiv Agricultural Company had nothing to do with the criminal case in which the accounts were seized back in 2022. He argued that the money was needed to pay salaries, make purchases, and pay taxes, and that the seizure was effectively a blockade.
A previous motion to lift the arrest was already considered on April 1, 2025. Then the court refused. In June, the defense again appealed to the court with a similar request, but did not provide any new evidence that could change the decision.
The prosecutor in court insisted that it was premature to cancel the arrest now. The pre-trial investigation is still ongoing, and the money in the accounts may be material evidence, which is the legal basis for the arrest.
The law enforcement officers' most forceful argument is that the company's owner has business ties to Russia. According to the investigation, he is a co-founder of legal entities in Russia, and according to public reporting, in 2023 these structures transferred about 130 million rubles to the Russian budget. The investigation believes that this may be a sign of financing by the aggressor state.
The judge ruled to uphold the arrest, and the pre-trial investigation is still ongoing.
In April, the High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the confiscation of bauxite and alumina worth over UAH 2.4 billion that belonged to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. These raw materials were stored at the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant.
Back in January 2025, the SBU blocked the supply of this strategic raw material to the Russian military-industrial complex, and the court seized Deripaska's assets. According to the investigation, the products were intended for companies that manufacture parts for Iskander missiles, drones and radar systems.
Анна Бальчінос