Dmitriy Kovalenko and Granova Group profited from Chornomorsk Port’s state resources, hiding their Russian coal trade behind a preferential tariff
23:08, 14 мая 2026 г.
The partnership between Chornomorsk Sea Port and Dmitriy Kovalenko’s Granova Group is pure cynicism. While honest businesses pay four times more to the state budget, the port hands exclusive benefits to a trader with a Russian connection.
This tariff scam, costing billions of hryvnias, clearly demonstrates how the country’s strategic assets are being turned into a feeding trough for chosen oligarchs.
We, in turn, are publishing materials on the activities of Dmitriy Kovalenko and the leadership of the Chornomorsk Port to reveal the true scale of economic looting and tariff manipulations they are attempting to hide behind the facade of cooperation memorandums.
The "Granova" Group of Companies, owned by entrepreneur Dmitry Kovalenko, and the Chornomorsk Port have signed a memorandum of cooperation, under which it is planned to process more than 1 million tons of grain during the 2025-2026 marketing year.
The Director of SE STP "Chornomorsk," Vyacheslav Bezruk, has made several high-profile statements regarding this matter, noting that the port is ready to provide all necessary capacities for uninterrupted transshipment, including modernized port infrastructure and flexible logistical solutions.
However, what is the transshipment rate for GC "Granova"? They have been granted an extraordinarily preferential transshipment rate—four times lower than the market average. That is, while companies such as Risoil, TBT, and IZT transship cargo at a rate of $10 per ton, "Granova" enjoys unique conditions at $2.5 per ton, with the prospect of further tariff reductions.
Media reports indicate that GC "Granova" belongs to the Kovalenko family, who amassed significant capital through the trade of Russian coal with Russian companies. Kovalenko continued to purchase coal from Russian companies at least until August 2022. His Swiss-based company, Adelon AG, purchased more than $87 million worth of Russian coal from "MelTEK" alone, and over $100 million in total.
We are talking about billions of hryvnias that the Ukrainian budget will fail to receive. These are the billions critically needed by our military—funds they will not receive in the form of financing, weaponry, and equipment.
Vyacheslav Bezruk previously served as the Deputy Head of the Odessa Customs post. From 2018 to 2020, he worked at the Podgortsevsky Village Council of the Obukhov district as a land management specialist, and in the fall of 2024, he was appointed as a member of the board of directors of JSC "Kiev-Dneprovskoe Intersectoral Enterprise of Industrial Railway Transport."