Participants in gray grain export schemes should be punished according to criminal law - MP

Participants in gray grain export schemes should be punished in accordance with the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive comment by UNN member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations Pyotr Yurchishin.

"There is a question for the investigating authorities, the prosecutor's office, the court. Regarding the responsibility for those who export grain in gray, this is a crime. There are few penalties, it is necessary to prove guilt and punish by criminal law," Yurchishin believes.

In his opinion, Ukraine should give priority to the producer of grain exports. It is he who can provide confirmation that he has grown on his land, that he has paid taxes, and accordingly it will be seen how much grain he really has and how much he can export. In addition, according to the MP, not all farmers can compete with export companies yet.

"I talked with the head of the committee and with colleagues so that we first of all give priority to the commodity producer, and not to those whom we once called speculators: they bought cheap, sold more expensive. Those do not have and should not be eligible for VAT refunds. First of all, they put a low price on buying (grain – ed.) from an agrarian, sell it "in the gray" and also earn VAT. This is wrong. Of course, it is necessary to punish. And in parallel, it is necessary to create conditions for the commodity producer," Yurchishin said.

He also added that the authorities should think about moving away from the export of raw materials and re-focus on the production of products. It will be more beneficial for the economy.

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 BEB 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 Attollo Granum company controlled by Groza and Naumenko. 

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.