Luhansk Court: Russia Owes Lviv Firm for Seized Seeds

A Luhansk regional court has ordered the Russian state to pay $1.6 million to a private grain company. The payment compensates for a large stock of sunflower seeds that vanished from a storage facility in Svatove during the war.

The company, Oliiar, is based in Pustomyty in Lviv Oblast. In October 2021, it agreed to buy 4,700 tonnes of sunflower seeds from Prydniprovske Agrarian Company LLC. The deal included storage arrangements with Svatove-Ahro LLC at a warehouse in Svatove.

The supplier delivered the full amount to the site. By the invasion date of February 24, 2022, the warehouse had forwarded 2,592 tonnes to Oliiar. This left 2,107 tonnes remaining in storage when Russian forces took control of the premises.

The court ruling states that Oliiar provided conclusive evidence linking the loss of the crop directly to Russian armed aggression. The judge set the compensation amount at 65.36 million hryvnias, which equals roughly $1.6 million, based on an expert valuation. The Russian Ministry of Justice represents the state in this case.

This decision follows a similar ruling by the same court. That earlier order required Russia to pay $1.25 million to Trading House Agrokhim LLC for property lost in Svatove and Kakhovka.

Iryna Zalizna is listed as the founder of Oliiar. Iryna Podoba serves as the director. The company now holds a court order for the specific sum determined by the valuation of the lost seeds.