Ukrainian grain traders are suspected of currency manipulation for $1.8 billion

The Economic Crime Bureau suspects grain traders of using schemes with foreign exchange earnings in the amount of $1.8 billion.

As a result of tax evasion, violations of currency legislation by some enterprises exporting agricultural products, approximately 4.8 billion UAH of taxes do not come to the budget of Ukraine and funds are withdrawn abroad due to the non-return of foreign exchange earnings. This was reported to the Bureau of Economic Security, Latifundist writes.

“It has been established that during August-September 2022, almost 12 million tons of grain crops and oil, with an estimated value of UAH 137 billion, were sent for export from the territory of Ukraine. Of these, about 4 million tons of agricultural products are exported by shell enterprises, that is, those that actually conduct their activities only on paper,” the Bureau of Economic Security analysts came to this conclusion.

The Bureau came to the conclusion that unscrupulous companies lack fixed assets and labor resources, purchase of exported goods, their officials do not report or do not report in full. They are also on the list of risky payers of the DPS, etc.

“These enterprises export agricultural products without appropriate disclosure in the tax reporting, which indicates that operations are being carried out to legalize goods of unknown origin. Accordingly, exported products are probably purchased from the population for cash and are not marketed in any way. This may indicate that the mentioned enterprises can be used for documenting operations on the export of shadow products and the non-return of foreign exchange earnings in the amount of about $1.8 billion,” the Bureau of Economic Security noted.‎

The Bureau of Economic Security also established that the majority of non-resident companies, to which grain is exported, have signs of riskiness: they are involved in criminal proceedings regarding the return of agricultural products and recognition of the absence of ownership rights, are in the status of “liquidation”, etc.