Russian oligarch faces suspicion over supplying Ukrainian titanium to Russia

The Prosecutor General's Office and the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine reported this information on July 26.

Between 2020 and 2021, Shelkov allegendly organized the supply of various titanium-containing concentrates worth nearly UAH 90 million to companies involved in weapons production for the Russian Ministry of Defense, thus supporting the military-industrial complex and creating strategic reserves for Russia.

“To conceal the supply of products to Russia, the suspects developed a scheme where titanium concentrates were officially supplied under contracts to an Austrian company but were actually shipped directly to Russian enterprises,” law enforcement officials said.

Russia paid the full market price to the Austrian company. In turn, the Austrian company paid the Ukrainian company a lower price. According to law enforcement, this scheme resulted in the understatement of the Ukrainian company’s profits and the avoidance of nearly UAH 18.5 million in taxes.

The Russian oligarch has been served a notice of suspicion for financing actions aimed at violently changing or overthrowing Ukraine's constitutional order, seizing state power, altering state borders, tax evasion, and laundering criminal proceeds. These suspicions fall under various articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 4 of Article 110-2, Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 212, and Part 3 of Article 209.

In addition, detectives from the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine have served a notice of suspicion to the former CEO of Demurinsky Mining and Processing Plant LLC for committing criminal offenses under Part 4 of Article 110-2 and Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved through legal procedure and established by a court verdict of guilty. 

Sanctions against Shelkov

In June 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) served a notice of suspicion to sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Shelkov. He was implicated in schemes to covertly supply Ukrainian titanium raw materials to Russia, where they were used to manufacture Kalibr missiles.

A few days later, in Dnipro, the SBU detained Oleksandr Fedoseyev, a key associate of Shelkov, who was also under suspicion for exporting titanium from Ukraine to Russia.

In July 2023, the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) auctioned off LLC Investagro-Ukraine, a company owned by Shelkov.

By the end of August 2023, Ukrainian law enforcement uncovered further criminal activities involving Shelkov, who was found to be involved in additional schemes to covertly supply titanium raw materials from Ukraine to Russia.