Sanctions on paper: how Dmytro Kovalenko, through Adelon AG, Azurit, and proxy companies, traded Russian coal during the war
It has been widely known that after 2014, Ukraine continued to import coal from Russia despite official bans. Although the issue was not heavily emphasized, reports did highlight key individuals who profited from what was often referred to as “bloody coal.”
Among those who developed schemes allowing the purchase and, most importantly, the import of Russian coal into Ukraine, they named a certain Dmytro Kovalenko – he invented new and new ways to bypass the bans and implemented a mechanism for supplying coal from Russia and the so-called «L/DPR».
It worked roughly like this. Under the «interrupted transit» scheme, for example, Russian coal was heading to Estonia, Belarus, or Poland, but something «happened» en route, and the carrier «had to» leave the cargo on Ukrainian territory. Or the coal was delivered to conditional Poland, where it was turned back for some reason (poor quality, wrong grade, etc.), documented as a return on behalf of the «Polish» buyer, and something «happened» on the way back. There were other schemes, but their essence boiled down to one thing – how to bypass the ban and import illegal coal into Ukraine.
In the first years of the war, this caused outrage and periodic attempts to combat it, but in the last two or three years, they essentially waved it off – not just Dmytro Kovalenko was making money this way; after all, many very well-known people were involved in similar schemes. Therefore, the state sluggishly pretended to fight blood trade, and society, except for a handful of «nationalists», didn’t react to it at all.
But February 24 became a watershed when many things that eyes were turned a blind eye to on the 23rd became unacceptable. Including the long-known phrase «trade on blood», which turned from figurative to literal. However, this in no way stopped Dmytro Kovalenko; his companies continued to supply Russian coal to Ukraine using the same time-tested schemes. Good thing law enforcement didn’t react to it at all.
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The new sanctions and bans introduced against Russia and trade with it, both at the Ukrainian level and by the international community, did not hinder him either. Of course, this barrage of sanctions created some inconveniences for Kovalenko, but the schemes established back in 2014 continued to work.
Moreover – Kovalenko even increased the volumes, as most competitors either voluntarily or forcibly stopped buying Russian coal. Kovalenko operates through foreign companies that he uses to avoid taxes and bypass bans. Thanks to operating this way since 2014, he has accumulated enough of these companies, which helped after February 24 to increase the volumes of purchasing Russian coal and selling it around the world. As the proverb goes, «war for some, mother dear for others».
That was the theoretical part. Now let’s move to the practical. The editorial office has obtained documents that explain how Dmytro Kovalenko’s schemes work. Studying them makes it possible to understand which specific companies and in which countries are involved in purchasing Russian coal, and some names of people involved in these processes also become known.
Companies Sibcoal and ANTEX INTERTRADE LTD
They have written before about the companies Sibcoal and ANTEX INTERTRADE LTD, which are used to supply coal to Poland. But there is new information. This is an invoice dated July 16, 2022, between Polish Sibcoal and Belarusian «Ecoil Chemical» for the supply of Russian coal from the «Bylowska» mine.
This is not the only purchase. Below is an excerpt from the contract between Sibcoal and ANTEX INTERTRADE LTD (which is also Kovalenko’s structure). These are so-called internal runs, but the question remains open: where did this coal come from and where did it go next.
Note the amounts – we’re talking about millions of dollars.
Dmytro Kovalenko supplies Russian coal not only to Poland. Among the recipients is the Czech Republic:
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Note the date – February 27. On the fourth day of the war, Dmytro Kovalenko’s company ANTEX INTERTRADE LTD is shipping Russian coal to the Czech Republic.
However, it’s probably unfair to accuse the Poles of inaction – apparently, they started an investigation, because, according to the registry extract, Kovalenko changed the name of the Sibcoal structure – as of 18.08.2022, it is called Polska Grupa Importowa Premium.
Company Adelon AG
This company also continued to cooperate with Russian and Belarusian companies after February 24. It is registered in Switzerland, but belongs to Dmytro Kovalenko.
These are two invoices dated July 28, 2022.
The amounts are small, but that’s not the main point. The main thing is that these documents confirm the Swiss company of Dmytro Kovalenko working with Russian coal.
And this is an extract from the contract with the company «MelTEK», from which it is clearly visible that during the war, Adelon AG, just like Azurit (more on it below), directly purchases coal from a Russian company.
Dmytro Kovalenko does not disdain and continues to work and earn together with the Russians.
Company Plaimp SFP Limited
We did not find evidence of this company’s trade with Russian coal producers, but Kovalenko uses this structure for debt assignment.
The invoice from Plaimp SFP Limited to HAMPTON RESOURCES LIMITED – a company in the orbit of the Kazakh company LLC EximArtis – also draws attention.
This information is currently being verified, but apparently, it can be confidently stated that Kovalenko will build new schemes through Kazakhstan.
Joint project of Dmytro Kovalenko and Oleksandr Kurpetko – company Azurit DWC-LLC
Dmytro Kovalenko is not the only player in the shadow market of Russian coal trade. Oleksandr Kurpetko, who previously worked at Akhmetov’s «Metinvest Holding», where he was responsible for coal procurement, takes an active part in this process. Before joining «Metinvest», Oleksandr Serhiyovych was responsible for coal procurement at «Donetskstal» company, and now works in the Ukrainian office of Trafigura company, where he does the same – coal procurement, but now for Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK and the state-owned «Centerenergo».
Kurpetko and Kovalenko registered the Azurit DWC-LLC company through a nominal Romanian. In fact, they manage this structure. By the way, coal market participants know very well who actually owns all the nominal companies, and it’s a «secret» only for law enforcement.
Here is the company’s license, which states that Romanian Chemal Giumali is the owner and director of the company:
Notably, all founding documents were notarized in Moscow and at the Russian consulate in Dubai.
And here is an appendix to the contract:
And – an invoice:
These documents (not the only ones) clearly confirm: Azurit DWC-LLC company throughout 2022 actively cooperates with «MelTEK» company and buys coal from it. Although the destination country is South Korea, there is a big question – where it went next.
Knowing that Oleksandr Kurpetko has the opportunity to sell this coal to Trafigura company, it is not excluded that Azurit DWC-LLC will further sell this coal to Trafigura. If this is confirmed, one of the world’s largest traders will have big problems.
The fact why specifically «MelTEK» company sells coal to Dmytro Kovalenko is explained by the fact that all sales at «MelTEK» are currently managed by Kovalenko’s longtime friend – Yevhen Potapov, who for a long time worked as the financial director of «Industrial Union of Donbas» in Ukraine, and now actively helps manage the seized enterprises in the uncontrolled territories of «DPR» and «LPR», such as Alchevsk MK, Yenakiyevo MK. By the way, the contract between «MelTEK» and Azurit was signed in May, when active combat operations were in full swing.
List of counterparties to which Kovalenko’s structures supply their products:
– Terracone, TUZ, CTL Logistics, POLCARGO-MEDYKA Sp. z oo, Trade Trans Combi, ELEKTO-STAL, Sped Trans Polska Sp. z oo, ADS SYSTEM.
Kovalenko’s employees who directly oversee the above agreements:
– Oleksandr Shepel,
– Yuriy Feofanov (+38(096) 105-86-85),
– Dmytro Feofanov (+38(099) 778-37-26),
– Kyrylo Kheyko.
In addition to the documents cited in the text of this short investigation, the editorial office has others that confirm everything written above about Dmytro Kovalenko’s cooperation with Russia. We are ready to provide them to any law enforcement agency that finally becomes interested in what is happening in the coal market of Europe and Ukraine, where Dmytro Kovalenko’s structures supply Russian coal. At least we comfort ourselves with such hope. Because the war has been going on for eight years. And its active phase – over seven months. But trade in Russian coal is only gaining momentum. Isn’t it time to put an end to this activity?
P.S. Upon request from law enforcement agencies, we will provide all documents that can assist the investigation.
