The coal supply situation in Ukraine has been a contentious issue since 2014, when Russia significantly curtailed Ukraine’s ability to extract and supply coal from the Donbas coal basin. This disruption led to the emergence of the notorious “Rotterdam+” scheme, where coal supposedly originating from South Africa was actually delivered from occupied Ukrainian territories. The scheme was eventually exposed, and state traitor Viktor Medvedchuk confessed to the involvement of supplies from runaway provinces of Ukraine and Russia.
Dmytro Kovalenko selling Russian coal to Ukraine
In this complex landscape, Dmytro Kovalenko has surfaced as a key figure, positioning himself as a coal businessman and a potential savior for Europe through diversified coal supplies. However, investigations have revealed that Kovalenko’s coal, claimed to be from sources like South Africa or Colombia, often originates from Russia.
In November 2019, the Security Service of Ukraine exposed a large-scale scheme involving the financing of terrorist organizations in the “L/DPR” regions through coal mining and subsequent deliveries to Ukraine and European countries. This scheme involved supplies from temporarily occupied territories, particularly for the energy company “Centrenergo.” At that time, companies linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, suspected of trading coal from runaway regions of Ukraine, were replaced by the Swiss firm Adelon AG, which was later revealed to be controlled by natives of Donetsk who had moved to Dnipro, with Dmytro Kovalenko at its helm.
Adelon AG denies the allegations
Despite Adelon AG’s official denial in December 2019 of any involvement in coal supplies from occupied Donbas, stating they only supplied coal from the Kuznetsk Coal Basin in Russia, documents obtained later contradicted this claim. It was found that Kovalenko’s companies continued to supply Russian coal even after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kovalenko’s cooperation with Russia did not cease after the invasion. His companies, including those linked to the Russian LLC “MelTEK” owned by Konstantin Strukov, a Russian billionaire and deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk region, continued to supply coal. Strukov’s company was suspected by Russian media of trading coal with “unfriendly countries,” including Ukraine, through intermediaries like Azurit DWC-LLC, registered in Dubai and controlled by Kovalenko.
Dmytro Kovalenko’s UAE Plaimp SFP Limited
Kovalenko also operates another firm in the UAE, Plaimp SFP Limited, which acts as a debt buyer and has financial ties to “MelTEK.” Anastasiya Timanova, closely associated with Kovalenko, is listed as the director of this company and was previously a beneficiary of the “Shakhtarska” mine, which has been registered in various locations including Dnipro, Shakhtarsk, Mariupol, and now Kyiv.
The Ukrainian and Russian registers show that the same individuals, including Yevhen Klymenko, Volodymyr Yakovenko, and Pavlo Vorobyov, are involved in managing Shakhtarska Mining in both countries. This indicates a continued collaboration between Kovalenko and his associates in both Ukraine and Russia, despite the ongoing conflict.
Kovalenko’s business network extends further, involving other companies such as Antratsyt, Christoforvuhillya, and Agrofirma Yasenivska, which, despite its name, is not engaged in agriculture but rather in coal trading. One of its founders, Yuriy Fesenko, was previously sanctioned by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.
Kovalenko’s partnership with Yuriy Balaban is also noteworthy. Together, they headed several Ukrainian coal companies and were involved in the Panama Papers scandal, owning shares in the offshore company Bremer International Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands. This company is still active and has been linked to the Swiss Adelon AG, which Kovalenko controls.
Sources suggest that Kovalenko and Balaban have a long history in the energy market, having worked as security guards for the United Energy Systems of Ukraine corporation in the early 2000s, later moving to work under the “Donetsk” group, which put them in charge of coal supplies from Donbas.
Dmytro Kovalenko sues Google and promotes himself as a donor for Ukraine
Currently, Dmytro Kovalenko is actively promoting himself as an international coal trader and a significant donor to the Ukrainian army, despite evidence suggesting his continued involvement in trading coal with Russia through covert schemes. These activities, including padding, “interrupted transit,” and obscure reloading schemes, allow disguised Russian raw materials to enter the European market, a situation that should be of great interest to law enforcement agencies.
The Adelon AG and Dmytro Kovalenko’s official response
Thank you for your reply and the opportunity to provide arguments refuting the statements/conclusions mentioned in the article.
First of all, I would like to officially declare that among all the companies mentioned in the article, Mr. Dmytro Kovalenko is related only to Adelon AG (Switzerland). Mr. Kovalenko is the beneficial owner of this company. Mr. Kovalenko is not related to all other companies mentioned in this article. These companies do not belong to him, he or his relatives are not shareholders/beneficiaries/directors of these companies.
Secondly, indeed, before the war in Ukraine, Adelon AG was active on the international coal trading market. One of the raw material bases where these companies bought coal was Russia. These products were supplied to many EU countries, Ukraine and Asian countries (such as China and South Korea). In connection with Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, on 08 April 2022 the EU Council adopted Resolution No 2022/576 of 8 April 2022 amending Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 on restrictive measures in relation to Russian actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, according to which a ban on the purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly, of coal products of Russian origin to EU countries was introduced from 09 April 2022.
At the same time, Article 3j, paragraph 3 of this EU Resolution provides that the above prohibition shall not apply until 10 August 2022 for the delivery of coal or receipt of payment for coal delivered under contracts concluded before 09 April 2022.
You can read this Resolution at the following link.
Since coal deliveries (especially by rail) have an inertial character between the date of shipment at the loading station and the date of delivery at the destination station (sometimes the delivery period is more than 2-3 months), the EU legislators took a logical and balanced decision to allow international traders to complete the delivery or receive payment for contracts concluded before 09 April 2024 by 10 August 2024.
If we look at the documents mentioned in the article (the authenticity of which we also dispute), where Adelon AG (Switzerland) appears, in terms of their dates, we can see that there are no documents dated after 10 August 2022. The periods of shipment of products or settlements mentioned therein also do not go beyond the said date. So we can clearly conclude that there are no violations of international sanctions legislation in the actions of the above companies of Mr Kovalenko.
It was the receipt/recovery of money under the contracts (return of prepayments) concluded before 09 April 2024 that allowed Mr. Kovalenko and Adelon AG to allocate to the charity of the civilian population of Ukraine, affected by military actions of Russia, and to finance Armed Forces of Ukraine for more than 2 million Euros during 2022 – early 2023.
Moreover, based on the above-mentioned EU Resolution prohibiting the purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly, of coal products of Russian origin to the EU countries, the statement of the author of the article that Mr Kovalenko and Adelon AG (Switzerland) continue to supply coal products of Russian origin to the EU countries is devoid of any logic, common sense and is completely false.
Thirdly, according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 426 of 09.04.2022 “On application of the ban on import of goods from the Russian Federation”, import of goods of Russian origin into the territory of Ukraine from 24 February 2022 is prohibited.
Thus, Adelon AG (Switzerland) or any other company cannot import coal products to Ukraine in light of the above ban.
This fact once again confirms the groundlessness of the statements made by the author of the article in respect of the continued supply of coal to Ukraine by Adelon AG or any other companies.
Fourthly, during the entire existence of Adelon AG (established in 2018), no criminal proceedings have been initiated in Ukraine against this company or its founder/beneficiary owner – Mr. Kovalenko, no charges have been brought in violation of the current legislation of Ukraine, no judgment has been issued by the court of Ukraine. As confirmation of the above-mentioned statement, we have the relevant documents received from the law enforcement authorities of Ukraine.
The above indicates that the author of the article manipulatively and baselessly alleges any wrongdoing by Mr. Kovalenko in Ukraine since 2019.
The main emphasis of the author of the article is on the same false articles published on ‘rubbish’ sites on the Internet. As you can find out, no respectable site with a large audience has published similar articles about Mr. Kovalenko.
I hope the above information will help you and the author of the article to understand the situation and you will make the only correct decision – to remove the article from your site.
If you need any additional information, please let me know. I am open for dialogue with the aim of removing the article as soon as possible.
