Court Awards $1.6 Million for 2,107 Tonnes of Lost Sunflower Seeds

A Ukrainian commercial court has ordered Russia to pay 65.36 million hryvnia, approximately 1.6 million US dollars, to recover the value of 2,107 tonnes of sunflower seeds.

The ruling comes from the Commercial Court of Luhansk Oblast. It identifies Oliiar, a private enterprise registered in Pustomyty in Lviv Oblast, as the beneficiary of the award. The funds are to compensate for a stock of seeds that remained in storage when Russian forces took control of the facility in occupied Svatove.

The dispute traces back to October 2021, when Oliiar contracted for 4,700 tonnes of sunflower seeds from the 2021 harvest. The seller, Prydniprovske Agrarian Company LLC, delivered the entire lot to a warehouse operated by Svatove-Ahro LLC. By February 24, 2022, the warehouse had released 2,592 tonnes to Oliiar. The remaining 2,107 tonnes were still on site when the full-scale invasion began.

Russian armed groups subsequently seized the premises. Oliiar never regained access to the remaining inventory. The court found that the company presented conclusive evidence linking the loss directly to Russia's armed aggression. An expert valuation set the compensation figure at 65.36 million hryvnia. Russia is represented in the proceedings by its Ministry of Justice.

Iryna Zalizna is listed as the founder of Oliiar, while Iryna Podoba serves as its director. This decision follows a prior ruling by the same court, which ordered Russia to pay 51.67 million hryvnia, or about 1.25 million US dollars, to Trading House Agrokhim LLC. That earlier award covered property lost in Svatove and in Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast.