Law enforcement officers should react sharply to the facts of black grain exports - MP

Law enforcement agencies should react sharply to the facts of black grain exports from Ukraine. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive comment by UNN Dmitry Solomchuk, a member of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.

It is clear that there should be no black grain exports and law enforcement agencies should react sharply to this

According to him, Ukrainian grain exports are being discussed in the international arena, including by the President of Ukraine, because the stability of many countries depends on Ukrainian grain.

"The Agricultural Committee is constantly discussing this (black export – ed.), but it's better to let law enforcement agencies and customs authorities answer – why is this so," Solomchuk said.

He added that in any case, when grain crosses the border, documents are drawn up and they must be checked by law enforcement agencies.

In addition, Solomchuk believes that law enforcement agencies should also study the activities of grain exporting companies for cooperation with sub-sanctioned companies.

"First of all, it is a question of law enforcement agencies and customs, why it leaves the country like that... Any illegal actions, they are always shameful. Especially at this level," Solomchuk said.

Recall

Earlier UNN reported that in January 2021, law enforcement officers were interested in a number of companies engaged in grain exports and Odessa businessmen Sergei Groza and Vladimir Naumenko associated with the GNT Group. Ferko LLC, Metallzyukrain Corp LTD LLC, Inzernoexport Grain Transshipment Complex LLC and Vtormetexport enterprise, belonging to 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 particular, 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 2 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 has already been mentioned in another criminal proceeding of OUTSTAFF 19 LLC. 

In addition to this company, they also used the "risky" enterprises "EXPRESS ALL" and "AGROTRANS GROUP". With their help, according to the investigation, at least 40 thousand tons of cereals and oilseeds disappeared from the terminal in 2023.