Grey grain exports: how tax evasion schemes affect the budget and pockets of Ukrainians
Kyiv • UNN
Due to gray grain exports and tax evasion schemes, billions of hryvnia are not received by the state budget of Ukraine, which seriously affects the economy and the pockets of citizens.
Due to gray grain exports and non-payment of taxes, billions of hryvnias do not reach the state budget of Ukraine . Dealers resort to fraud: grain is bought from farmers, for cash, and exported through fictitious enterprises that close the next day after the sale of unaccounted grain, writes UNN.
A video filmed in the port of Odessa this week was shown on the air of the telethon "Edini Novini". On it, Ukrainian grain was loaded from containers into the hold of a ship, which in the future should take it abroad. According to journalists, they wanted to export grain without paying taxes in Ukraine and returning foreign currency earnings. Law enforcement officers managed to identify such a criminal scheme in a timely manner and prevent the commission of illegal actions.
The export of more than 40 containers of agricultural products from the territory of Ukraine, which were purchased for cash, was prevented, the purpose of which was further export by entrepreneurs. By these actions, the enterprises evaded paying taxes for over UAH 32 million
According to journalists, if the gray export scheme had been implemented this time, in fact, the budget of Ukraine would have missed tens of millions of hryvnia, and such a case is not alone. Unaccounted grain is illegally exported from Ukraine by trains, trucks, as well as by sea. At the same time, according to the Ministry of Economy, taxes are not paid from two out of every five tons of grain harvest.
"I think that today this is really a problem, because most of the grain goes illegally. Foreign currency earnings are not returned, taxes are not paid to the budget and the country is losing billions of hryvnia," the Prosecutor General's Office noted.
It is noted that one of the most common schemes of black grain exports is the use of fictitious enterprises designed for front persons. Such companies are created to sell grain purchased for cash from farmers, mainly at an undervalued price. And after the grain leaves the borders of Ukraine, it is resold several times and it already legally reaches the end consumer. Because of this, the Ukrainian economy is suffering greatly.
The budget does not receive significant amounts of taxes, the national currency is weakening, prices are rising and this has a significant impact on the economy of our state. We already have consequences, we see them when we go into the store, prices are rising every day – and this has a very negative impact on our economy and on every citizen."
A striking example of how gray grain is exported from Ukraine was the agricultural holding GNT Group of Odessa businessmen Sergei Groza and Vladimir Naumenko. The Bureau of Economic Security is investigating several criminal proceedings on the facts of tax evasion and participation in schemes of gray exports of grain and oilseeds by companies controlled by them.
They also used a scheme to sell grain through one-day firms.
One example of gray exports worth millions
In particular, Ferko LLC, Metallzyukrain Corp LTD, Grain Transshipment Complex Inzernoexport LLC and Vtormetexport enterprise, which are part of the GNT Group, actively used the details of "risky" enterprises to carry out export operations.
During the investigation, the territorial department of the BEP in the Odessa region identified at least three such "risky" enterprises: OUTSTAFF 19 LLC, ALICENTA TRADE LLC and SOLTEK PRODUCT LLC. In addition, the investigation found that the exported grain was stored in the warehouses of Olympex Coupe International LLC, which is also controlled by Groza and Naumenko.
According to the results of the investigation, law enforcement officers found that none of the mentioned "risky" enterprises has evidence of the purchase of cereals that were planned to be exported, which is more than two thousand tons of corn, barley, wheat (this is only what was discovered by law enforcement officers during searches).
In addition, all these enterprises violated the requirements of financial and tax reporting, demonstrated zero profitability and underestimated income tax.
Only within the framework of this criminal proceeding, according to law enforcement officers, the Groza and Naumenko companies caused damage to the state in the amount of almost UAH 37.5 million.
At the same time, the exporter of "gray" grain was LLC "Agiros", which belongs to the famous smuggler Vadim Alperin, against whom the NSDC imposed sanctions in 2021 and who was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship. And these grains were shipped, according to media reports, by another company controlled by Groza and Naumenko, Atoll Granum.
Currently, this criminal proceeding is still under investigation.
One more thing criminal proceedings , in which Groza and Naumenko's company Olympex Coupe International LLC appears, are being investigated by the territorial department of the BEB of the city of Kiev. It was opened a year later, in 2022, but also concerns the "gray" grain exports.
The case is being investigated under articles on tax evasion, forgery of documents for state registers, legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and illegal handling of weapons or ammunition.
The scheme according to which the Groza and Naumenko company operated is identical to the one used earlier, only the names of fictitious companies differ, and even then not all. In particular, it includes what was already mentioned in another criminal proceeding of OUTSTAFF 19 LLC. In addition to this company, the details of the "risky" enterprises EXPRESS ALL and AGROTRANS GROUP were also used. With their help, according to the investigation, at least 40 thousand tons of grain and oilseeds disappeared from the terminal in 2023. And this is only what is known from the criminal proceedings.
One can only imagine how many millions of hryvnias the Ukrainian budget has not received only thanks to such activities of one agricultural holding.
"Since September 2022, during the investigation of criminal proceedings, BEB has carried out the testing of 936 risky enterprises of exporters. According to the results of such testing, in fact, the prevention of the export of black grain in the amount of more than 170 million hryvnia. We are talking about money that would not have returned to the state budget," Andrei Gorchinsky, deputy head of the BAB detective department, told reporters.
The struggle bears fruit
The journalists added that an interdepartmental group on countering criminal violations related to illegal activities in the grain market has been established in the Office of the Prosecutor General to combat gray grain exports.
"Our group is working proactively to prevent illegal grain from leaving Ukraine. Firstly, we control law enforcement agencies, coordinate them so that they respond quickly if grain is illegally bought for cash, taxes are not paid and they try to export grain at an undervalued price using forged documents," the Prosecutor General's Office noted.
According to the NBU, after the start of the active work of law enforcement officers, the non-return of foreign currency earnings from grain exports decreased to $ 3 billion. In September 2023, this figure was $8 billion. Also, tax revenues to the budget increased by UAH 1 billion.
The Parliament earlier adopted amendments to the tax code to improve the export operations of certain goods. Journalists predict that after its entry into force, grain exports can be produced only by those companies that pay taxes, which will greatly narrow the possibilities of gray exports.
Recall
Earlier UNN reported that a number of companies belonging to the GNT Group of businessmen Sergei Groza and Vladimir Naumenko have been evading taxes for millions of hryvnias for years using "risky" enterprises.
