The investigation believes that these companies brought thousands of tons of grain from Ukraine to Poland, hiding its origin and purpose.
Points of attention
- The Polish Prosecutor's Office has opened criminal proceedings against 75 companies in relation to the fraud with Ukrainian grain, suspected of hiding the origin of imported grain.
- The investigation suggests that technical grain imported from Ukraine for purposes such as ethanol production was sold in Poland for flour production, raising suspicions of fraudulent activities.
- Changes in the flow of grain wagons at the borders of Ukraine have led to the reorientation of Ukrainian grain transportation to the seaports of Odessa, impacting the volume of grain transfers in the region.
- The uncontrolled import of cheap grain and rapeseed to Poland, following the cancellation of customs duty by the EU, has facilitated fraudulent practices and disguised origin of agricultural products from Ukraine.
- Amid the ongoing investigation, it has been revealed that the suspects in the case of fraud with Ukrainian grain in Poland include citizens of Poland, Ukraine, and Estonia, with companies registered in Poland under scrutiny.
Fraud with Ukrainian grain in Poland: what is known
This is reported by the Rzeszów Prosecutor's Office.
Criminal proceedings in the case of fraud with Ukrainian grain in Poland cover 75 companies. Suspicions have been raised against seventeen persons.
Companies registered in Poland are under investigation. There are no Ukrainian companies among them. The suspects in the investigation are mostly citizens of Poland, but there are also citizens of Ukraine and Estonia, said the spokeswoman of the prosecutor's office, Dorota Sokolovska-Mach.
The investigation believes that these companies brought thousands of tons of grain to Poland, hiding its origin and purpose. Technical grain can be used, for example, for the production of ethanol or as a bio-component for biofuel, but immediately after import it was sold for the production of flour.
The message states that the cancellation by the European Union in 2022, after the start of the great war, of the customs duty on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine led to the uncontrolled import of cheap grain and rapeseed to Poland.
Goods were bought by middlemen directly at the border and sold in Poland as Polish.
Ukrainian grain is taken to the sea ports of Odessa
The flow of grain wagons was reoriented from the western borders of Ukraine to the south, in the direction of the seaports of Great Odesa.
This was reported by Valery Tkachev, Deputy Director of the Department of Commercial Work of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia".
It is said that as of March 18, the queue of wagons with grain in the direction of Izmail increased by 30.56% to 705 wagons. And on the western borders, a slight increase in the volume of transfer of grain cargoes is recorded, for example, on the borders with Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. At the same time, the decrease is on the border with Romania.
Tkachev also explained that currently there is nothing preventing the transfer of goods at land crossings, border railway crossings are working normally.
Among other things, the rate of daily unloading of wagons with grain in the ports of Greater Odessa during March fluctuates in the range of 1,000-1,540 wagons per day. On average, 104 wagons are unloaded per day, and the average daily rate increased by 10.64% in a week.
