The “Granova” group of companies of businessman Dmytro Kovalenko received unique preferential conditions for grain transshipment at the port of “Chornomorsk” — a rate of $2.5 per ton against the market rate of $10. 368.media learned about this from its own sources.
The benefits were made possible thanks to the position of the director of the state enterprise "Chornomorsk" Vyacheslav Bezruk, a former customs officer. As is known, in the 2025–2026 marketing year, the port and the "Granova" Group signed a memorandum of cooperation, within the framework of which it is planned to transport more than 1 million tons of grain. According to sources, the possibility of further tariff reduction is even envisaged.
For comparison: other operators, including Risoil, TBT, and IZT, operate at a rate of $10 per ton.
The Kovalenko family, which owns the Granova Group, previously made significant money trading in Russian coal. Dmitry Kovalenko purchased coal from Russian companies at least until August 2022. In particular, his Swiss Adelon AG purchased Russian coal worth more than $87 million from MelTEK, and in total, more than $100 million.
To work at the port, Kovalenko in mid-2024 acquired the Kyiv company Overfood (formerly Ingrin-LTD), re-registered it in Chornomorsk at 14-a Transportna Street, office 614, and renamed it to Granova Logistics with a capital of UAH 150,000. His son Daniil Kovalenko became the beneficiary, and since July, Lytvyn Valentyn Valeriyovych has been the director.
The company belongs to the Cypriot offshore Afex Investments Limited, established in 2023. On official resources, the offshore positions itself as an investor in various industries in Europe, including the production of windows and ceramic blocks.
The participation of the “Granova” Group in schemes with preferential transshipment at a state-owned enterprise raises questions about transparency and equality of conditions for all market participants.
