“A New Feeder for Medvedchuk.” Who and How Is Exporting Grain from the Occupied Territories of the South?

Radio Liberty’s “Azov Region News” project decided to ask investigators:

How exactly is this company involved in the trade in grain from the occupied territories of the south?

How is the agricultural sector organized in these regions and how much has it changed over the years of occupation?

By what schemes does Russia export stolen Ukrainian grain and how to counteract it?

 

For the first time, the “System” project, created by the TV channel “Nastosasvet Vremya” and the Russian service of Radio Liberty, spoke about Medvedchuk’s connection with the schemes for exporting grain from the occupied territories. This is the Russian company “Florence”, which acted as a logistics operator for exporting grain to the occupied Crimea, from where the products were delivered to Turkey.

In December 2023, journalists published an investigation stating that the main supplier of logistics services had been changed in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine.

Now, thanks to the investigation of "Slidstva.Info", it has become known that in 2023, more than 13,000 tons of wheat and barley were sent from the occupied peninsula to Istanbul. The cargo belonged to the company "Florence", which was listed as the sender.

 

"Slidstva.Info" journalist Maksim Savchuk told "News from the Azov Region" that he and his colleagues managed to gain access to correspondence from several emails related to the export of grain from the occupied territory of the Zaporizhia region. The documents analyzed by the journalists indicate that the company "Florence" is prominent in the logistics sector in the occupied regions.

"The company "Florence" participates in meetings initiated by the relevant Russian ministry. "Florence" is constantly called upon as a powerful player dealing with issues of transportation to and from the occupied territories. That is, after the full invasion, after Russia occupied part of the Kherson region, it is clear that the logistics routes have changed.

If earlier the Kerch Bridge could be used, now, due to certain circumstances, it is more profitable for Russia to occasionally use the railway, which they also seized in the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. And in the process of communication, the question arises that “Florence” should somehow think about how to ensure the transportation and delivery of products to the occupied peninsula,” says Savchuk.

Viktor Medvedchuk is a former deputy of the banned Opposition Platform – For Life party. In 2021, he was sent to house arrest on charges of treason, and in 2022 he was exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war. Medvedchuk is under sanctions in Ukraine and the EU, and his Ukrainian citizenship was also taken away.

 

The trail leading to Medvedchuk

 

The company, which is associated with Medvedchuk, worked in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine even before the full invasion, says Savchuk. And since 2022, it has expanded its activities to the occupied territories of the south.

"Florence" works very closely with the railways in the occupied Ukrainian territories. From what we have heard, let's say that this is a new income for Medvedchuk. Market participants say that this is the company of the "new owner of Donbass". And they meant Medvedchuk. But such a situation happened that in early 2025 we noticed that the owners of the "Florence" company had changed, so for now we cannot say that Medvedchuk is engaged in transportation, because people came there who had never done anything like this before. They look like people from the front, but finding out whose faces they are is not so easy, and sometimes impossible, because a person can be hired there through third parties.

So, we cannot say whether Medvedchuk is behind this since January 2025. But until January 2025, the connection between Medvedchuk and the company "Florence", which is engaged in the transportation of everything in the world, was clearly traced. They even organized the export of metal to the territory of Belarus, and this whole story was done on a "turnkey" basis by the company "Florence", the journalist emphasized.

 

 

"Great hopes for the Armed Forces of Ukraine"

 

"News from the Azov Region" decided to recall how the agricultural sector was organized in the occupied territories of the south and analyze how much it has changed over the years of occupation.

Vodimitr Saldo, who was appointed by Russia to manage the occupied part of the Kherson region, reported in early July that the harvest in the region had begun. The official admitted that it was not easy for farmers to work this year. Drought and problems with irrigation, he said, affected the harvest.

The head of the Association of Farmers and Private Landowners in the Kherson region, Alexander Hordienko, told "News from the Azov Region" that the conditions under which farmers work on the Left Bank are not favorable for carrying out this activity.

“It’s very difficult, it’s true! Since there is no clear price for grain, they take it from them - whatever they say, they return it. They forced everyone to re-register (according to Russian law), taxes there are very high. Everyone is working just to wait for this time and there are great hopes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will drive them out (the occupiers),” Hordiyenko shared information.

The destruction of the Kakhovka reservoir and the irrigation system is significantly affecting the yield in the region, says the head of the Kherson Region Farmers’ Association.

"Kherson Oblast is a steppe, a zone of risky agriculture. Before the war, Kherson Oblast mainly used 500,000 hectares of irrigated land. The Kahovka Reservoir provided more than 2,000 square kilometers of water surface. The microclimate was completely different.

So there is no crop there this year. They have the same problem as us - the grain freezes in winter, the drought is the same, but their grain is bought at a much lower price. That's why it's very difficult for them there. And, of course, the most important thing is that they are under occupation and have no alternative," Khodienko added.

At dawn on June 6, 2023, it became known about the destruction of the Kahovka hydroelectric power plant. Ukrainian authorities then accused the Russian military of undermining the dam, which occupied, mined and controlled the power plant since February 24, 2022. The Russian occupation authorities, on the other hand, claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly shelled and damaged the facility at night.

Russia steals five million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine every year, former Minister of Agricultural Policy Vitaly Koval said in May of this year. According to him, the occupiers use technical means to present this grain as their own.

The former official then noted that this grain is then shipped to the markets of the Middle East and Africa. Ukraine, in turn, emphasizes at various levels and international forums the need to block Russian trade in stolen Ukrainian grain.

 

"They are driving farmers to bankruptcy"

 

A harvest campaign is also underway in the occupied territory of Zaporizhia Oblast. Local media outlets controlled by the occupation authorities are reporting on this. According to them, farmers are cultivating more than 70 hectares of crops per day, harvesting about 180 tons of wheat. The work will continue for several more weeks.

Aleksandr Pilipenko, editor of the publication "Lokator-Media", told "News from the Azov Region" that the pressure on agricultural producers in the region has increased.

“New control bodies have been introduced into the system. Another factor has been added, such as non-fulfillment of contractual obligations. Occupiers receive grain from farmers and do not pay. We are already recording cases of bankruptcy of large farms. We can give a specific example - there is a farmer outside the city of Vasilivka who has been growing grain since the 1990s. And now, in 2023, he handed over his harvest and still has not received money from the so-called “state grain operator” - this is an institution created by the Russian authorities to receive Ukrainian grain. This is a monopolistic institution. This farmer actually went bankrupt in two years,” the journalist says.

The occupation authorities are also making more and more new demands on entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector, he says.

“The Russians have largely regulated grain production at the cultivation stage. Chemical treatment is possible only according to the standards proposed by the occupation authorities. There is an agency such as the Russian Agrochemical Service, which determines specific suppliers of these chemicals and only they can be used by farmers.

That is, the Russian government’s monetization of grain is already underway at the cultivation stage. Then you need to get a certain declaration in order to be able to hand over the grain. This is done by the Rossilgospnadzor. Farmers who fail to pass grain inspection in the recommended laboratories have their declarations canceled,” Pilipenko said.

According to him, 800 declarations were canceled last year, and 400 have already been canceled this year.

“After the farmer receives these so-called declarations, he can hand them over to the “state grain operator” – the monopolist. But we see that there are cases where farmers do not get money," the journalist noted.

Given the hostilities and the occupation of part of the southern territories of Ukraine by Russia, the editorial office cannot obtain official confirmation of some of the statements made or independently verify them.  

 

“The Role of the “Shadow Fleet”

 

Editor-in-Chief of the Crimean publication “Center for Journalistic Research” Valentina Samar told “News from the Azov Region” that Russia is using the same schemes to export Ukrainian grain abroad that were used after the occupation of Crimea in 2014.

“Neither Russia, nor other countries, nor other companies have the right to export products grown in the occupied territories. However, Russia ignores this. Those countries that do not support European or Western sanctions generally ignore this as well.

How is this done? Since entry into Crimean and Azov ports is prohibited by sanctions, the vessels that Russia employs, we call it the “pirate fleet,” automatically turn off the AIS signal identifier under various flags. So, they enter without a flag, allegedly, and in some cases they even cover the names or numbers of these vessels with some kind of cloth so as not to be identified. However, we have been doing this successfully for all these years,” said Samar.

After entering the mentioned ports, according to Samar, the grain is reloaded onto these ships and they go to Russian ports, where, without entering the port’s water area itself, they can stop at anchorages.

 

“The customs points of these ports simply issue them Russian export documents, which removes from these products their origin – from the occupied Ukrainian territories,” the editor noted.

 

“Improve sanctions mechanisms”

 

Ukraine should improve sanctions mechanisms so that those who participated in the export of stolen grain are held accountable, as well as block the ships involved in these processes, says Samar.

"Open criminal cases for violating the state border of Ukraine when these ships enter Ukrainian ports. We know that the prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Region of Ukraine and the city of Sevastopol has very successfully developed the practice of such investigations. There are physical blockades of ships, there are blockades of ships in absentia. There are criminal cases against ship captains or their ship owners. Here too, Ukraine is not yet very actively working on this issue, for example, in Interpol, so that it would be possible to block ships that violate regulations through the international police system, to detain the captains of these ships, which, as we see from

journalistic investigations, enter European ports and do so repeatedly. Therefore, this is a homework that Ukraine should have done all these years," the journalist emphasized.

 

In her opinion, Ukraine should insist that partner countries apply the same sanctions and do everything to document these crimes, including by appealing to international courts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine previously stated that in cases of illegal trade in Ukrainian grain, the ministry is trying to use the entire diplomatic toolkit, from protest notes to various types of negotiations, demarches and various communications with partners that can introduce secondary sanctions.