The court seized 166,000 tonnes of iron ore, stored in Ukrainian seaports, belonging to a foreign company, worth an estimated UAH 1.8 billion (US$ 48,681,054), this was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, according to Ukrinform.
The investigation found that in 2021-2022, a non-resident entity registered in the European Union member state, together with Russian companies affiliated with a Russian oligarch, declared the transfer of iron ore for a total amount of more than UAH 1.3 billion (US$ 35,158,539).
In order to evade taxes and other mandatory payments during the import of goods to the territory of Ukraine, company officials applied the so-called "interrupted transit" mechanism. In fact, they did not aim to further export ore outside of Ukraine.
It was established that in fact, company officials shipped the goods to other entities — residents of Ukraine – without paying customs payments and thereby inflicting budget losses of more than UAH 118 million (US$ 3.2 mln).
As specified in the Security Service of Ukraine, the seized iron ore was discovered on the territory of Ukrainian seaports in underground warehouses.
According to the SBU, the batch discovered belongs to the company owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is part of the inner circle of the Kremlin's top military and political leadership. After the full-scale invasion, Usmanov was sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, as well as the United States, and the European Union.
The Russians tried to illegally transport the concealed iron ore by sea to the territory of Russia. After that, the minerals were set to be transferred for the needs of Russia’s metallurgical industry and the military-industrial complex.
The issue is being resolved of transferring seized raw materials to the National Agency for Identification, Search and Management of Assets Obtained through Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA).
Seven hotels and two malls belonging to a group of companies and individuals associated with the criminal organization "Luzhnikivtsi", whose founders are Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma and two other Russian nationals, were seized earlier, Ukrinform reports.
