Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Kovalenko, who is currently actively expanding his business empire in the agricultural sector, made his fortune trading Russian coal. His Swiss company Adelon AG was the largest buyer of coal from the Russian company MelTEK in 2021-2022, spending over $87 million on it. In addition, Adelon AG cooperated with other Russian coal companies, such as Sibenergougol and Sibpromnedra, which resulted in over $100 million in purchases.
Even after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, trade in Russian coal continued – at least until August 2022. It is documented that on July 12, 2022, Adelon AG signed an invoice for the supply of Russian coal with the Belarusian company “Ekkoil Chemical”, which, according to the investigation, was involved in the case of the supply of coal from the occupied territories of the “L/DPR”.
Before the invasion, Dmytro Kovalenko was also actively working with Russian coal through his Ukrainian companies Intercoaltrading and Coaltradingindustry. The former is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, while the latter continues to operate.
Kovalenko directed the profits he received from Russian coal to the agricultural sector. In 2023, he bought up several large companies at once - Grain Terminal, Overfood, Agrarian Elevator Company, on the basis of which he created the Granova group. Formally, its majority owner is the Cypriot Afex Investments Ltd, and the ultimate beneficiary is his son Daniil Kovalenko.
In 2024, “Granova” received revenue of over UAH 11 billion, becoming one of the leaders of the agricultural market of Ukraine. The main trading partner of the group is the same Adelon AG, which in 2024 became the largest supplier of corn to Egypt - for the amount of $ 42.37 million.
Kovalenko also purchases rock salt from Egypt, which allowed him to enter the Ukrainian salt market. In December 2023, Salt Industry LLC was established, which is also owned by Afex Investments Ltd. The company was headed by Viktor Yurin, the former director of Artemsol. During the first year of operation, Salt Industry won 68 out of 73 state tenders and signed contracts worth UAH 90 million, supplying technical salt for municipal and road services.
In 2024, with the assistance of the head of the Mukachevo District State Administration, Serhiy Gaidai, who previously headed the Luhansk OVA, the Svalyavsk City Council supported the creation of the Energy Group industrial park. The initiator and managing company of the park was VDL LLC, owned by Kovalenko.
The company has leased over 10 hectares of land in the Svalyava industrial zone for 35 years. Officially, VDL has already invested over UAH 100 million in the creation of the park. The first project is the glass and window construction production enterprise Energy Glass Technologies, which also belongs to Kovalenko. In addition, several more of his companies have been registered: Tak Energy Group, Generator Energo.
Dmytro Kovalenko today positions himself as a patriotic businessman who invests money in the development of the Ukrainian economy. However, the fact remains: his business empire was built on multi-million dollar deals with Russian coal after the war began. And although he successfully invests in grain, salt and manufacturing, his trade ties lead to companies that worked with the Russian coal industry and the occupied territories.
