A businessman linked to Kadyrov exports grain from Ukraine

Since February 2022, 892 agricultural companies have been registered in Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine. More than half of them were opened by entrepreneurs from Russian regions, the rest were local residents, calculated “Important Stories”

Among such companies is Agro 24, registered in February of this year in the village of Askania-Nova in the Kherson region. According to journalists, the company is owned by 43-year-old Elbek Zaiev from Chechnya. The registration documents state that the company will engage in the cultivation of grain crops, wholesale trade in grain and other types of agricultural activities.

As Important Stories found out, the brother of the company owner, Ali Zaiev, serves in the 94th operational regiment of the Russian Guard, which took part in the invasion of Ukraine. The investigation also states that Ali Zaiev appears to be one of the security officials close to the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. Journalists discovered a photo in which Ali Zaiev stands with Ramzan Kadyrov, Alibek Delimkhanov and Ruslan Geremeev. The latter is called by Boris Nemtsov’s family as the organizer of the murder of the opposition politician.

As Important Stories note, it is still difficult to say how much Elbek Zaiev earned from trading grain from the Kherson region: the Agro 24 company has not yet published financial statements, and payments for grain in the occupied territories are usually made in cash.

According to Ukrainian authorities, in 2023 Russians taken out from the occupied territories almost five million tons of grain.