The organizers of a grain scheme involving 160,000 tons are on trial in Mykolaiv Oblast

The case involving the embezzlement of thousands of tons of grain from the Grain Depot, which has been ongoing since 2021, has moved forward in court. According to investigators, a scheme to illegally appropriate grain worth over 12 million hryvnias may have been operating at the enterprise in the Mykolaiv region.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

Three people are on trial, accused of misappropriating property through abuse of their official positions. During one of the hearings, the attorney for one of the defendants asked the court to request information from State Enterprise "Grain Base No. 76" regarding the actual grain reserves.

This concerns fourth-grade wheat that belonged to the State Reserve Agency of Ukraine and was stored at the enterprise as of September 17, 2020. According to the defense, this data may be important for the consideration of the case.

The lawyer explained that he had not made such a request during the pre-trial investigation because he did not consider it necessary, and had not submitted it earlier during the trial due to his own oversight.

The prosecutor objected to this request. He emphasized that the defense was aware of the results of the audit of the company, during which a shortage of approximately 158,000 tons of grain was discovered. It was precisely these materials that served as the basis for conducting a series of expert examinations. In addition, the prosecutors noted that there are no documents at all containing accurate data on the actual grain reserves of the state reserve at that time.

Ultimately, the court denied the motion. The judges concluded that the defense attorney had not demonstrated why he could not obtain the necessary information on his own. He also failed to explain how this information could affect the determination of the facts of the case or the court’s future decision.

The criminal proceedings themselves date back to July 2021. At that time<span>,</span> the<span>SAPO reported the exposure of a scheme to embezzle grain from the State Reserve. Investigators charged three individuals suspected of being involved in the illegal misappropriation of 1,560 tons of grain worth over 12 million hryvnias.</span>

Among the suspects were the acting director general of the state-owned enterprise "Grain Base No. 76," the head of a private company who is a close relative of a state-owned enterprise official, and a businessman whom investigators identify as the organizer of the scheme.

According to law enforcement, in the fall of 2020, the participants in the scheme arranged for the fictitious storage of 1,560 tons of grain from a private company. In reality, however, no grain was ever delivered to the enterprise’s warehouses. Subsequently, the plan was to ship the state-owned grain under the guise of returning the property to this company. Another approximately 700 tons of the shortfall were to be written off as waste.

In May 2021, the actual removal of grain from the company’s premises began, but NABU investigators prevented the scheme from being carried out.

The prosecutor’s office also stated that the company’s management changed twice during the preparation and implementation of the scheme. Investigators believe that these personnel decisions were made with the assistance of the scheme’s organizer, and that the newly appointed managers helped bring it to fruition.

As the Center for Public Investigations previously reported, in August 2025, NABU uncovered another scheme to embezzle grain from the state reserve at the state-owned enterprise "Grain Base No. 76" in the village of Kavuny in the Mykolaiv region.

According to the investigation, beginning in October 2020, the scheme’s participants illegally removed and sold over 1,300 tons of wheat and barley. Among the suspects are a former deputy head of the State Reserve, officials of the state-owned enterprise, and representatives of the company "Grad-Alfa." According to NABU, grain from the state reserve was sold as allegedly surplus property without the necessary permits.

Анна Бальчінос