The multi-million "Intercoaltrading" scam: How Dmitriy Kovalenko is stripping toxic assets and leaving the state empty-handed

Using a controlled Swiss shell company, Dmitriy Kovalenko is reportedly shedding toxic assets while portraying it as an effort to wipe out Intercoaltrading’s multimillion-dollar debts.

This latest manipulation of the Ukrainian justice system has allowed the scandalous businessman to leave the state empty-handed, effectively "burying the evidence" regarding coal supplies from the so-called "DPR/LPR" via the "interrupted transit" scheme. We, in turn, are publishing materials on Dmitriy Kovalenko’s activities to expose the true scale of the fraud and economic abuses he is attempting to hide from the public behind the smokescreen of a fictitious bankruptcy.

Dmitriy Kovalenko, the owner of Adelon AG, initiated the bankruptcy of his own company, LLC Intercoaltrading, through the courts. This entity was involved in a scheme to supply coal from "DPR/LPR" separatists under the "interrupted transit" model.

In case No. 904/936/23, the Commercial Court of the Dnipropetrovsk Region approved the liquidator’s report and the liquidation balance, officially closing the bankruptcy proceedings for the Dnipro-based firm Intercoaltrading (code 37912002).

The bankruptcy was initiated by the Swiss company Adelon AG. Why do we assert that Kovalenko himself is bankrupting his firm? Because its former director was Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Melentiev. He is a co-founder of LLC Granova Ukraine—another company within Kovalenko’s orbit that is currently active in the ports of the Odesa region and is facing scrutiny from the BEB (Bureau of Economic Security).

The director of Intercoaltrading was the Kharkiv lawyer Roman Sergeyevich Voronov. Another co-founder was Igor Nikolaevich Tebin, the former director of LLC Coal Trade and LLC Trading House EGT.

Vitaliy Evgenievich Shevchenko, a controlled associate, was appointed as the insolvency practitioner. The proceedings were opened back in April 2023. Through the Swiss firm, Kovalenko approved claims exceeding 162 million UAH. The court also recognized additional tax claims amounting to 2.4 million UAH.

Following an inventory and inquiries to state authorities, it was revealed that the company possesses no assets.

Only the "right of claim" was sold at auction: four lots with a total debt value of 53.34 million UAH were sold for a mere 69,000 UAH. The buyer was the Kyiv-based LLC Koksokhimicheskaya Obogatitelnaya Fabrika Voskresenskaya. This was predictable, as the company is registered to Sergey Saprykin—an individual controlled by Kovalenko. The firm was previously known as the Petropavlovskiy Gorno-Obogatitelniy Kombinat.

As a result of this bankruptcy, the tax authorities received nothing. The judge ruled that there were no signs of a fictitious or intentional bankruptcy, concluding that the situation arose solely due to "objective financial difficulties."