The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv has postponed consideration of the motion to arrest grain stored at the Olympex terminal as part of the tax evasion case until Monday at 15:30, a UNN correspondent reports from the courtroom.
Earlier , UNN reported that according to the investigation, in the period from 2021 to 2023, when the grain terminal was managed by the company of Odesa businessmen Serhiy Groza and Volodymyr Naumenko, Olympex Coupe International, officials of Ecotrans LLC, using their own production facilities of the oil extraction plant and the details of the controlled enterprises of suppliers (producers), purchased and processed agricultural products for cash, which were subsequently sold to controlled enterprises and "risky" exporters.
These transactions were not reflected in the accounting and tax records, which resulted in VAT evasion in excess of UAH 60 million.
During the court hearing, it turned out that the case involved Attollo Granum, which allegedly illegally acquired half of the grain terminal. According to the company's lawyer, law enforcement officers seized 100,000 tons of agricultural products during searches that lasted 10 days. Some of the seized property, including corn, belongs to Ferko LLC, which is controlled by Groza and Naumenko. This company is involved in another criminal proceeding for tax evasion through gray grain exports.
As explained by detective Sidorenko of the Bureau of Economic Security, who was present at the meeting, the investigation revealed that the criminal scheme used the details of shell companies and purchased grain for cash to evade taxes. At the same time, according to him, during the searches, representatives of Attollo Granum LLC failed to provide law enforcement officers with documents on the owners and origin of the grain.
The detective also told the judge that the investigation revealed that crimes at the Olympex terminal, in particular the part of the terminal operated by Attollo Granum, were still ongoing.
"In the course of investigative actions, it was established that criminal actions are ongoing. Additional information will be registered in the URPTI," he added.
It is worth noting that the introduction of a new fact into the URPTI and the consolidation of cases will be a reasonable basis for seizing grain and preventing criminal activity.
Add
"Ecotrans used the details of more than four dozen LLCs. Among them are several companies that have previously been involved in another criminal proceeding for tax evasion.
In particular, Synthesis LLC and Yelanetske SGVP LLC are involved in case on tax evasion on an especially large scale, where Groza and Naumenko's company Olympex Coupe International appears together with them on January 29, 2021.
In addition to Olympex Coupe International, other companies belonging to or controlled by Groza and Naumenko's GNT Group agricultural holding are also involved in this case. In particular, we are talking about Ferko LLC, Metalzukrain Corp Ltd, Grain Transshipment Complex Inzernoexport LLC, and Vtormeteksport LLC.
These companies also used a widespread scheme of "gray" exports - the details of "risky" enterprises. Investigators pointed out that Groza and Naumenko's companies evaded VAT by almost UAH 37.5 million.
In both cases, Synthesis and Yelanetske were identified as the alleged owners of the grain.
However, this is not the only coincidence in the criminal proceedings. In both cases, the Olimpex grain terminal, operated by Groza and Naumenko's company, shipped grain to Agiros LLC.
This company is owned by a well-known smuggler, Vadym Alperin, who was sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council in 2021 and deprived of Ukrainian citizenship.
This is yet another confirmation of the active cooperation of Groza and Naumenko with the sanctioned Alperin.
It is possible that the investigation will merge these cases into one big one.
As UNN found out, it was Alperin's Agiros that helped Odesa businessmen export more than 20,000 tons of corn to Egypt, which was allegedly pledged to an American fund and allegedly disappeared from the grain terminal's warehouses. By the way, another criminal proceeding has been opened against Groza and Naumenko for embezzlement of pledged property.
Recall
Earlier, we talked about other facts of Groza and Naumenko's cooperation with sanctioned companies. In particular, the businessmen continued to trade with Black Sea Commodities Trading Limited even after Ukraine imposed sanctions against it in April 2021 on suspicion of smuggling.
Moreover, it turned out that Ukraine has an extensive network of companies with Russian roots. Seemingly unremarkable companies that are part of or do business with the GNT Group holding operate in the agricultural sector, which is now of strategic importance in terms of filling the budget of our country, against which Russia has waged a large-scale war.
The parliamentary committee on national security believes that sanctions should be imposed on Groza, Naumenko and their business for such cooperation . The NSDC noted that the body is ready to consider this issue after the relevant proposals, in particular, from the SBU.