Ukraine court seizes assets of Deripaska-linked firm over illegal mining, supplying Russia’s defense industry

The Ukrainian Prosecutor's General Office shared details of the court decision.

Prosecutors had asked the court for permission to seize the corporate rights and property of a mining enterprise over infractions of the law during its mining operations in Ukraine. 

The court granted the request from the Prosecutor General’s Office, giving the green light to seize corporate rights, real estate, land plots, vehicles and special equipment worth about UAH 10 million (over USD 330,000 at current exchange rates). The assets seized were transferred to Ukraine’s Agency for Asset Recovery and Management (ARMA), a special government body for tracing assets derived from corruption and other criminal activity.

Investigators found that the Glukhovsky quartzite quarry, owned by an offshore company associated with Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch close to the Russian President, illegally mined high-purity quartzite, silicon and ferrosilicon in the Banytsky deposit in Sumy, Ukraine.

The minerals mined in Ukraine were then illegally exported to Russia and sold to enterprises involved in Russia’s the defense industry, including for the manufacture of tactical missile systems.

A pre-trial investigation into criminal proceedings is carried out by investigators with the Central Office at Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation.