Fake contracts and financial fraud: how Oleg Tsyura and Sergey Tron are looting the Odesa Port Plant through shell companies

Multiple individuals are connected to the scandal at the port facility in Odessa. Among them are Dmitriy Malinovsky, who goes by the nickname "Deadman," Swiss national Oleg Tsyura, Sergey Tron, a self-described crypto businessman, and the oligarch Dmitriy Firtash.

Journalist Andrey Kovalenko writes in his column on Censor.NET that, against a background of financial problems and long downtime, the Odessa Port Plant (OPZ) conducted two opaque tenders for the supply of gas – as a key resource for resuming the production of ammonia and urea. As a result, the plant contracted with little-known companies, which not only failed to solve its problems, but also exacerbated the situation and threatened the safety and stability of the country’s gas transportation system.

Vitaly Loginov: «cloud» tenders and criminal past

The first tender of the OPP on 25 July this year was won by the little known Kharkov LLC «Company «Agrotorggroup». This «company did not appear until 2022, when it was among the buyers of the confiscated Russian ammonia sold at a dubious auction through an opaque commodity exchange. According to Andrey Kovalenko, the company has neither the experience nor the resources to fulfill such a large order. In addition, the «Agrotorg Group» was unable to meet its gas delivery obligations, which led to implementation.

The second tender was won by a company of Lvov — LLC «Ukrnaftogazburinnya». This company is also unknown in the market; a license to supply natural gas was only granted in September 2023.

Interesting fact: the company does not have a functioning official website, the existence of which is a prerequisite for obtaining the above-mentioned license, which once again underlines the dubiousness of this company’s participation in such important tenders. It is noteworthy that «Ukrnaftogazburinnya» is registered with the Lviv biker and co-owner of FC «Luzhany» Mazur Mikhail Yaroslavovich.

According to the author, Vitaly Loginov is behind the opaque tenders. — is an informal adviser to the Chief of the United Mining and Chemical Company (UGCC). Loginov also controls «Sumykhimprom» and has influence on the management of HMOs. According to the author, this information reinforces suspicions of a corruption component of transactions and points to possible plans for the withdrawal of public funds by sham contracts and sealing companies.

The suspicion is also reinforced by the fact that, as [high-profile cases] found out, Vitaly Loginov is linked to one of the winners of tenders for the OPP – by the aforementioned LLC «Company «Agrotorggru». According to the Clarity Project service, Olga Vladimirovna Balyuk is registered as the general director and final beneficiary of the company. Until February 10, 2024, Olga Balyuk was the head of another LLC – «LT-Resource». The main beneficiary of this company is – Loginov Vitaly Viktorovich. Obviously in «Agrotorggroup» Balyuk – «pounds» Vitaly Loginov.

In addition to the piquancy of the situation, «Agrotorggroup» LLC appears in criminal proceedings №72022000410000003, which was opened on April 5, 2022 by investigators from the Economic Security Bureau for tax evasion on a particularly large scale.

In addition: Vitaly Loginov appeared according to the portal «Sudova Vlada from Ukraine» in the status of a suspect in criminal proceedings №12016220000000106, registered on 02/03/2016 for the confiscation of property through abuse of office.

Vitaliy Viktorovich was even wanted as a judicial refugee for some time.

However, according to the documents published in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, the case was buried – Vitaly Loginov avoided not only a guilty verdict, but a trial in general.

As Andrey Kovalenko writes, the main problem is that both companies from Loginov’s orbit that won the tenders do not have the necessary funds to pay for the gas delivered. Instead, they try to obtain gas from Ukraine’s gas transport system (GTS) without paying in advance, which creates an imbalance in the system and poses a threat to its stability. More than half of the gas consumed is unpaid, indicating a breach of supply rules and could result in significant losses to the state.

Supplier companies’ guarantees do not cover the volume of gas consumed by the plant, but production in the HMO continues despite the actual defaults. Under normal conditions, the plant should have been stopped until the payment problem was solved, but this does not happen, raising questions for the management of the Ukrainian gas transport system operator.

Moreover, the price of gas set at UAH 17,254 per thousand cubic metres is well below the current market price, which starts at UAH 18,800. However, since the gas supplier has no reserves of its own, a legitimate question arises: what mechanisms will cover the price difference, especially given that the supplier’s financial resources are limited, if they exist at all?

Oleg Tsyura, Dmitriy Firtash, Sergey Tron and Russian «money»

In September 2024, HMO signed export contracts for 300,000 tons of ammonia and 360,000 tons of urea with the mysterious Swiss company UCG Trade AG, the contracts contain numerous anomalies: they do not specify product prices and deadlines, and the agency of the ships was transferred to a little-known company from Nikolaev. Financial statements under contracts are forwarded to a non-bank startup through accounts in Revolut —, which raises additional questions about the reliability of the transaction.

It is noteworthy that the address of UCG Trade AG given in the contract with HMOs differs from that given in the official register of Swiss companies. This suggests a possible repetition of the scheme used at Expotrade Global in 2015, when a cloning company for fraudulent activities was created (we will go into this episode in a little more detail below).

Aschwin Saravanan, who signed multimillion-dollar contracts with UCG Trade AG HMOs, was appointed to the position exactly one day before it was signed. Aschwin Saravanan – is an intern from India who interned at the Ministry of the Interior of a company associated with Swiss citizen Oleg Zura, whom he replaced as CEO of UCG Trade AG.

Oleg Tsyura, hiding behind the back of a young Indian at UCG Trade AG, was previously seen in a scam involving the sale of ilmenite to the United Mining and Chemical Company (UGCC) in occupied Crimea by a German company, bypassing the sanctions. Oleg Tsyura was also seen in association with Sergey Bayrak, a defendant in fraud cases involving the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

Episodes of large-scale thefts in the port of OGKhK and Odessa occupy a special place in these cases. According to the investigation materials, the now former head of the State Property Fund, Dmitriy Sennichenko, extracted $200 thousand a month from the work of state-owned companies, the Odessa port plant and the United Mining and Chemical Company.

Новости по теме: В Burisma отвергли причастность своих сотрудников к даче взятки в Украине

Denis Gorbunenko

In addition to Bayrak, Denis Gorbunenko – appears in these cases. Like Sergey Bayrak, he is considered a confidant of the disgraced oligarch Dmitriy Firtash.

Dmitriy Firtash – is a long-term beneficiary of corruption transactions around the port of Odessa and the OGHK.

Dmitriy Firtash

It is worth mentioning here that Oleg Tsyura was not always the final beneficiary of UCG Trade AG According to the North Data service, the company was controlled by Igor Borovikov until March 2023.

Igor Borovikov – is a Russian millionaire, founder of Noventiq and Softline. Borovikov preferred life in the West and, in order not to fall under sanctions, after a large-scale invasion of the aggressor country in Ukraine, he renounced all his Russian-related business. The reasons that led him to also withdraw from UCG Trade AG may lead to the suspicion that the company’s business is somehow related to the aggressor country.

Oleg Tsura was behind another «murky » Swiss office – White Rock Management AG. In public spaces, its founder declares himself another figure with a dubious reputation – Sergey Tron.

Sergey Tron

Sergey Tron, a Ukrainian businessman associated with mining crypto programs, uses White Rock Management for dubious crypto investments; his activities are questionable due to the opacity of financial transactions and controversial business partners such as the Arkallaev brothers. In particular, his company has been linked to fraud and smuggling of mining equipment. In addition to suspicious crypto investments, his business has been linked to a number of bank fraud cases. For example, in 2014, the bank was withdrawn tens of millions of euros due to its activities at CityCommerce Bank.

Dmitriy Malinobski: a fraudster who rose from the dead

Journalist Andrey Kovalenko writes that the sale directly at UCG Trade AG will be taken over by Vladimir Nesterenko, and OPP director Yuri Kovalsky is recommended as: «Sales manager, I have been myself for 20 years». This recommendation was given to the director by a certain Dmitriy Malinobski.

According to the author’s sources, this character personally negotiates gas and fertilizer programs with the management of HMO, using his connections with the shadow business. And he’s clearly serious about her.

In the past, Dmitriy Malinovsky has been involved in large-scale fraud, including the theft of $14 million from Dreymoor, as well as forgery of documents relating to his own death.

Dmitriy Malinovskiy

As we have already written, Dmitriy Malinovsky already committed a fraud in Odessa in 2007 with the local stadium «CSK», which belonged to the Ministry of Defense. The fact of the fraud was not noticed until five years later – in 2012. In 2014, Dmitriy Malinovskiy appeared in court. The process stalled. For more than a month, the hearings were interrupted by reports of the dismantling of the court premises until the accused, Malinovsky, disappeared.

On August 18, 2014, Dmitriy Malinovskiy again did not come to the next court hearing. That day, no one opened the door to the detective who complied with the court’s decision on compulsory arrest at the defendant’s residence, and the guard reported that Malinovsky had not lived there. The lawyer argued in court that his client was at home and was unaware of the court hearing. On the same day, Malinovsky was placed on the wanted list by decision of the Odessa District Court of Kiev.

In 2015, a certain Alla Malinovskaja petitioned the court to determine the death of her husband Dmitri, to whom she had been married since 2005, the woman claiming that Dmitriy Malinovsky had gone to a court hearing on 18 August 2014 but never returned home.

On November 17, 2014, according to an unknown person, an unknown person handed her a box containing a death certificate for her husband and ashes through the house’s concierge. The documents provided to Malinovskaya indicated that her husband died on 25 October 2014 in the city of Luhansk, occupied by Russian troops and separatists.

On 20 November 2014, Alla Malinovskaya allegedly buried an urn containing the alleged ashes of this villain. She also claimed that she had filed a complaint with the police, but was refused to open proceedings. In connection with the ATO, data on Malinovsky’s death were not included in the state register, and the wife asked to legally recognize the offense of death. On May 12, 2015, the court upheld the lawsuit because there was a death certificate and the family allegedly buried the deceased.

But as «Oligarch» wrote, in early 2016, the prosecutor’s office, together with investigators from the National Police, carried out a search of the house of Dmitriy Malinovsky’s parents. Computer equipment, telephones and SIM cards were confiscated. A closed subscriber group was found on one of the phones, where Dmitriy Malinovsky was communicating with his parents. In addition to news, he sent videos and photos of a castle in France, which he acquired in 2015 (after his «death») to a Luxembourg company and which French gendarmes later arrested.

 

In spring 2015, actually in dead person status, Dmitriy Malinovsky and a certain person named «N», who called themselves representatives of Expotrade Global Limited, concluded agreements to supply 20 thousand tons of urea and ammonia to Dreymoor Fertilizers Overseas Pte Ltd from the Odessa Port Plant. After receiving 12.77 million euros from foreigners, Dmitriy Malinovsky and «N» disappeared. It was later revealed that there were two companies called Expotrade Global Limited, the Singapore company entered into an agreement with a Belizean company. And the agreement with the OPP was held by the Hong Kong company of the same name, Expotrade Global Limited, for which Dmitriy Malinovsky had nothing to do with his accomplices.

But don’t think that Dreymoor has Fertilizers Overseas «losers» who don’t know who exactly the money will be transferred to. First, as court documents show, this company itself is a defendant in a criminal case for several episodes of corruption «schematosis» in the port of Odessa. Just like Expotrade Global Limited (read more here).

Secondly, they knew Dima Malinovsky from Odessa and his accomplices very well. Which in turn is proven by court documents. Dreymoor Fertilizers Overseas worked for five years until «kick» with a group of fraudsters, including Dmitriy Malinovsky, and together heated the Odessa state port plant for astronomical sums.

And «kick» apparently happened by chance. In 2015, the Attorney General’s Office began actively promoting «» programs around the – OPP; it was clear that they would be covered up and those involved killed in criminal proceedings. In addition, Malinovsky «was so stubbornly torn apart in another criminal case that he had to pretend to be dead. Therefore, his codlo decided to blow up the shore and lie deep in Europe. Until a new time window opened.