A company reportedly linked to the son of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is exporting coal from Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine to Turkey and other countries, according to an investigation by the exiled news outlet IStories.
Oleksandr Yanukovych oversaw large-scale coal, gas and property development projects before his father was ousted in 2014 and the family fled to Russia. IStories said it believes the younger Yanukovych is now connected with a Russian company called Energoresurs.
Energoresurs exported a combined 500,000 metric tons of coal in 2023 and 2024, earning 3.5 billion rubles ($35 million) from sales to Turkey between 2021 and 2023, according to the report.
IStories said that Energoresurs’ formal owner, Alexei Ivanov, is likely a front for Oleksandr Yanukovych. Ivanov was previously employed by several companies linked to Yanukovych.
Energoresurs ships coal to Turkey by rail and sea, with the British Virgin Islands-registered Energy Union listed as its buyer. Both Energoresurs and an Energy Union subsidiary are registered in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and the subsidiary’s director is also employed by Energoresurs, the report said.
The coal is falsely registered as coming from Russia’s Rostov region, which borders the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, IStories reported. The outlet identified five coal suppliers for Energoresurs based in occupied Ukrainian territories.
Before 2022, the company’s buyers included Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Romania, but EU sanctions banned Russian coal imports following the invasion of Ukraine.
Viktor Yanukovych served as Ukraine’s pro-Russia president from 2010 until his removal. Russian media reported last October that Oleksandr Yanukovych had been granted Russian citizenship.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stripped Viktor Yanukovych of his Ukrainian citizenship in 2023 as part of efforts to root out pro-Russian influence.
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