Russian agricultural magnates use a Lithuanian company to bypass sanctions
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has uncovered a sanctions evasion scheme used by Russian agricultural magnates from the Kaliningrad Oblast, Oleksandr and Dmytro Dolhov. According to intelligence data, the brothers channel their profits into funding the full-scale war unleashed by Russia. This was reported by Ukrinform citing DIU, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
Both brothers are the founders and owners of the DolhovGroup holding, which is the largest agricultural enterprise in the Kaliningrad exclave. This company controls over 50% of the region’s land and annually produces more than 300,000 tons of grain.
The enterprise owns elevator capacities for 240,000 tons and its own railway fleet for transporting grain crops and vegetable oils. DolhovGroup is not under international sanctions and actively earns on the European market.
Rapeseed Oil Export to EU
About 95% of the rapeseed oil produced by the holding is exported to European Union countries for biodiesel production. DolhovGroup regularly receives international ISCC certificates required for supplying this product to the European market.
In 2021–2023, the Kuzhel and Furmanovskoye companies, which are part of the holding’s structure, exported significant volumes of grain to Serbia and Lithuania. In particular, these firms declared hundreds of thousands of tons of wheat and tens of thousands of tons of corn.
Lithuanian Company Dognus
In 2012, the Dolhov brothers acted as co-founders of the Lithuanian firm UAB Dognus. Despite the formal change of owners in 2016–2018, there is a high probability of maintaining their actual control over this structure.
Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the performance indicators of UAB Dognus surged sharply. In 2022, the company’s assets increased from 7.48 million euros to 42.96 million euros, and revenue reached 55.1 million euros.
Shadow Financial Flows
The cross-border activity of the firm also increased significantly: out of 708 operations for 2018–2023, 674 occurred between January 1, 2022, and January 17, 2023. According to military intelligence estimates, the Dolhov brothers use UAB Dognus as a shadow European structure to bypass sanctions.
The received funds are accumulated in the European Union jurisdiction. At the same time, the holding pays taxes to the Russian budget and supports units of the Russian army.
Photo: Ukrinform
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