Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) are investigating large-scale financial fraud and illegal grain exports involving US-citizen businessman Vaja Jhashi, owner of key port assets in the Odesa region. According to investigators, entities under his control avoided taxes and allegedly delivered Ukrainian grain to Iran as part of Russia’s payment scheme for Shahed attack drones.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have uncovered a massive «gray» export operation operating through the Odesa region’s ports. According to BEB estimates, illicit grain trading accounts for up to 20% of Ukraine’s total agricultural exports, causing state budget losses exceeding 9 billion UAH in the summer and autumn of 2023 alone. At the center of the investigation is Vaja Jhashi, owner of Trans-Oil Group and key Danube river port assets, including Reni Elevator LLC and Reni-Line LLC.
Court filings indicate that the scheme involved buying grain with cash and storing it at the Reni Elevator facilities before exporting it using forged documents. Law enforcement authorities have cited charges including fraud, embezzlement, document forgery, and money laundering. Assets and corporate seals belonging to the companies have been seized. In a single episode, tax evasion on corporate profits exceeded 47.5 million UAH.
The most sensitive line of inquiry led by the SBU involves potential evasion of international sanctions against Iran. Investigators allege that between September 2025 and March 2026, entities linked to Jhashi orchestrated grain shipments intended for Iranian buyers.
While accompanying shipping manifests listed Turkish ports as the final destination, vessel tracking and logbook data from the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier XIN YU (IMO 9244362)—carrying nearly 10,000 metric tons of Ukrainian barley—showed it bypassed Turkey entirely. The vessel anchored off the Iranian coast in November 2025 and unloaded its cargo at an Iranian port in early 2026. Investigators suspect these shipments served as indirect compensation from the Russian Federation for Iranian kamikaze drones.
Born in Moscow with US citizenship, Jhashi has publicly denied any commercial presence or business interests in Russia. However, public records show he maintained a residential registration in Moscow until 2021 and owned Nobil-Grain LLC in Russia’s Kursk region from 2005 to 2015.
The investigation also highlights Jhashi’s long-standing business ties with fugitive Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who was extradited and sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2025 for money laundering. The two men co-owned businesses, traveled on Moldovan diplomatic passports, and conducted joint flight itineraries. Vaja Jhashi has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.