Grain exports increased due to intensified fight against grain exports "in gray" and the work of the grain corridor - expert

The official statistics of grain exports improved in 2023-2024 marketing year, as the grain corridor was earned and reduced gray exports. This opinion in an exclusive commentary UNN expressed the deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Union Denis Marchuk.

According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Ukraine exported more than 49.7 million tons of grains and legumes in the 2023-2024 marketing year, up 3% from the previous period, with wheat exports up 10%, while corn exports declined by 275,000 tons.

The growth (of exports - ed.) because the sea began to work more actively, including exports. Because, if you look at analogues, compared to last season, when the grain corridor worked and there was a slowdown, it led to downtime. Now, in fact, for April-May we have shown very good results, about 11 million tons exported and sold

In addition, he said, the increase in export figures was also influenced by the fight against the export of undocumented grain.

As for the fight against gray exports - this is also a fact, because if you look at November, the volume of the gray market was about 30%. As of today, it has decreased to 18%"

He added that the law signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should strengthen the fight against gray exports.

Therefore, all these things that are being done, including thanks to the AFU, the corridor is working, thanks to the fight against schemes that do not make it possible to buy (grain - ed.) for cash and somehow not to return foreign currency earnings - all this together gives indicators that lead to an improvement in official statistics on exports of Ukrainian products

As a reminder

Earlier it became known that the Economic Security Bureau was investigating several criminal proceedings related to gray export of grain. According to law enforcers, the most common scheme of such tax evasion worth tens of millions of hryvnias is the purchase of grain that does not have documents on its origin for cash and its further export abroad with the help of details of "risky" or front companies.

One vivid example of gray exports is criminal cases that concern gray exports from the Olympex grain terminal in 2021-2023, when it was actively managed by Odessa businessmen Sergei Groza and Vladimir Naumenko.

In particular, in January 2021, law enforcers were interested in a number of companies involved in grain export and related to the agroholding GNT Group of Sergey Groza and Vladimir Naumenko. LLC "Ferko", LLC "Metalsukrane Corp LTD", LLC "Grain Reloading Complex "Inzernoexport" and enterprise "Vtormetexport", belonging to GNT Group, actively used the details of "risky" enterprises for export operations. In the course of the investigation, the territorial department of the BEB in the Odessa region identified at least three such "risky" enterprises: AUTSTAFF 19 LLC, ALISENTA TRADE LLC, and SOLTEK PRODUCT LLC. In addition, the investigation found that the exported grain was stored, among other things, in the warehouses of Olympex Coupe International LLC - which is also controlled by Groza and Naumenko.

Based on the results of the investigation, law enforcers found that none of the mentioned "risky" enterprises had no proof of purchase of grains that were planned to be exported - more than 2 thousand tons of corn, barley, wheat (this is only what was found by law enforcers during the searches). In addition, all these enterprises violated the requirements of financial and tax reporting, demonstrated zero profitability, and understated profit tax.

According to law enforcers' calculations, Groza and Naumenko's companies caused almost UAH 37.5m damage to the state within the framework of this criminal case alone. At the same time, the exporter of "gray" grain was Agiros LLC, which belongs to a well-known smuggler Vadim Alperin, against whom the SNBO imposed sanctions in 2021 and who was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship. And another company controlled by Groza and Naumenko, "Attollo Granum,"according to media reports, was shipping these grains. 

This criminal proceeding is currently still under investigation.

Another criminal proceedinginvolving Groza and Naumenko's company, Olympex Coupe International LLC, is being investigated by the territorial department of the Kyiv City BEB. It was opened a year later, in 2022, but also concerns "gray" grain exports.

The case is being investigated under articles on tax evasion, forgery of documents for state registers, legalization (laundering) of proceeds of crime and illegal handling of weapons or ammunition.

The scheme used by Groza and Naumenko's company is identical to the one used earlier, only the names of the fictitious companies differ, and not all of them. In particular, it includes AUTSTAFF 19 LLC mentioned in another criminal proceeding. 

In addition to this company, they also used the "risky" companies EXPRESS ALL and AGROTRANS-GROUP. With their help, according to the investigation, at least 40,000 tons of grain and oilseeds disappeared from the terminal in 2023.  

In addition, BEB detectives believe that criminal activity related to tax evasion through gray exports of grain continues at the Olympex terminal.