Court Orders Russia to Pay $1.6 Million for Lost Svatove Seeds

2,107 tonnes of sunflower seeds vanished from a warehouse in Svatove, and a judge in Luhansk Oblast has now valued that loss at 65.36 million hryvnia, roughly US$1.6 million.

Oliiar, a private company registered in Pustomyty in Lviv Oblast, bought 4,700 tonnes of the 2021 harvest from Prydniprovske Agrarian Company LLC in October 2021. The firm arranged for Svatove-Ahro LLC to store the crop at a facility in the town of Svatove.

The supplier delivered the full amount to the warehouse. By February 24, 2022, Svatove-Ahro had shipped 2,592 tonnes to Oliiar, leaving the remaining 2,107 tonnes in storage. When the full-scale invasion began, Russian armed groups took control of the warehouse premises. Oliiar never recovered the seeds left behind.

In its ruling, the Commercial Court of Luhansk Oblast stated that Oliiar provided conclusive evidence that the loss resulted directly from Russia's armed aggression. The court ordered the Russian Ministry of Justice to pay the compensation, based on an expert valuation of the missing inventory.

Iryna Zalizna is listed as the founder of Oliiar, and Iryna Podoba serves as its director. This decision follows a similar ruling by the same court, which ordered Russia to pay 51.67 million hryvnia, about US$1.25 million, to Trading House Agrokhim LLC for property lost in Svatove and Kakhovka.