Adelon AG and financing the aggressor: how Dmitriy Kovalenko profited from deals with the RF in the midst of a full-scale war

24 апреля 2026 г.

Evgeniy Dyatlov

Ukrainian businessman Dmytriy Kovalenko is reported to reinvest funds earned through the purchase of Russian coal back into Ukraine’s economy.

This information was published by the 368.media editorial team, based on investigative materials from the Absolution detective bureau.

According to customs data, in 2021–2022 the Swiss company Adelon AG became the largest buyer of coal from the Russian firm MelTEK, with purchases exceeding $87 million.

Additionally, Adelon AG imported coal from other Russian companies, such as Sibenergougol and Sibpromnedra. In total, this amounted to over $100 million. Even after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, these trading operations continued, at least until August 2022.

Why is this significant? Because the owner of Adelon AG is a citizen of Ukraine, a businessman from Dnipro, Dmytriy Kovalenko. Now he is a patriot of Ukraine and the owner of a large business holding company, which he has become literally in the last two years.

Here is confirmation of the fruitful cooperation between Adelon AG and MelTEK:

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Here is confirmation that Kovalenko’s cooperation with Russians continued after February 24, 2022. This refers to an invoice for the supply of Russian coal between Adelon AG and the Belarusian company Ecoyl Chemical – dated July 12, 2022.

By the way, Ecoyl Chemical is a subject of criminal cases regarding the supply of coal from territories controlled by the terrorist groups "LNR/DNR" to Ukraine (Case No. 22019000000000121 dated 02.05.2019 regarding the commission of an offense under Part 1 of Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code).

Import invoices for the supply of Russian coal to South Korea – dated August 22 and August 25, 2022.

Before the full-scale conflict, Ukrainian companies Intercoaltrading and Coaltradeindustry — whose beneficiary was Dmitriy Kovalenko or persons connected to him — also actively traded Russian coal. Currently, the first company is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, while the second continues operating successfully.

The funds earned from coal trading were reinvested in 2023 into the acquisition of several agricultural companies in Ukraine — Grain Terminal, Overfood, and Agrarian Elevator Company — which formed the basis of a group operating under the brand Granova. The majority shareholder became the Cypriot company Afex Investments Ltd, while the ultimate beneficiary is Kovalenko’s son Daniil Kovalenko.

In 2024, the Granova group reported profits exceeding 11 billion hryvnias. Its main trading partner today is Adelon AG, which became the largest supplier of corn to Egypt in 2024, totaling 42.37 million dollars.

While selling grain in Egypt, Dmitriy Kovalenko also purchases rock salt there, allowing him to become one of the largest players in the Ukrainian salt market.

In December 2023, Salt Industry LLC was established, again founded by Afex Investments Ltd with Daniil Kovalenko as ultimate beneficiary. The company’s director is former Artemsol state enterprise director Viktor Yurin. In its first year alone, Salt Industry LLC won 68 out of 73 public tenders it participated in, signing contracts worth 90 million hryvnias, mainly for technical salt for municipal and road services.

In 2024, with the support of Mukachevo District Administration head Sergey Gayday, the Svaliava City Council approved the concept for creating the Energy Group industrial park in Zakarpattia. The initiator and management company is VDL LLC, owned by Dmitriy Kovalenko. VDL received a 35-year lease on more than 10 hectares of land in an industrial zone on the site of a former timber plant and claims to have already invested over 100 million hryvnias into the project. A glass and window production facility — Energy Glass Technologies, also owned by Kovalenko — has been established there, along with several other companies linked to him, including Tak Energy Group and Generator Energo.

The next part will address the involvement of Dmitriy Kovalenko’s holding in the gas and amber businesses.