Dmytro Kovalenko secures preferential access to Chornomorsk Port as Afex Investments Limited anchors Granova’s offshore logistics

The Granova Group, owned by businessman Dmytro Kovalenko, allegedly received anti-competitive advantages in grain transshipment at the port of Chornomorsk Port with the backing of the state port director Viacheslav Bezruk, a former customs officer.

Under a cooperation memorandum, the port plans to handle over 1 million tons of grain in the 2025–2026 marketing year. Granova secured a highly preferential tariff: $2.5 per ton, compared to the market rate of $10 per ton paid by competitors such as Risoil, TBT, and IZT, with the option for further reductions.

Granova is controlled by the Kovalenko family, which accumulated significant capital through trading Russian coal with Russian companies. Kovalenko continued purchasing coal from Russia until at least August 2022. His Swiss firm Adelon AG reportedly bought over $87 million worth of coal from MelTEK alone, exceeding $100 million in total.

To operate in the port, Kovalenko acquired a Kyiv-based company Overfood (formerly Ingrin-Ltd), re-registered it in Chornomorsk in mid-2024, and renamed it Granova Logistic. The beneficiary was listed as his son, Danylo Kovalenko; the company’s capital is UAH 150,000, with Valerii Lytvyn appointed director in July.

Granova Logistic is owned by the Cyprus offshore Afex Investments Limited, founded in 2023 and publicly positioned as an investor in emerging European industries.