Ukrainian law enforcement has launched a major investigation into officials at Nibulon LLC, one of the country’s largest grain traders and river logistics operators. The case involves alleged tax evasion that resulted in significant losses to the state budget. Information regarding the criminal proceedings under Part 2, Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations (ERDR) on September 3 by the Mykolaiv District Police Department. The probe stems from a planned tax audit conducted in September 2021, during the tenure of the company’s late founder, Oleksiy Vadaturskyy.
Investigators allege that company officials responsible for accounting and tax reporting systematically understated corporate income tax liabilities while inflating value-added tax (VAT) refund claims.
The investigation centers on Nibulon’s financial activity between 2019 and 2021. During this period, the company paid roughly 820–830 million UAH annually in taxes but received between 4.3 billion and 5.3 billion UAH in VAT refunds each year. While VAT refunds are standard for agricultural exporters, authorities are examining whether these claims were artificially inflated in tax filings.
«Opening criminal proceedings does not mean Nibulon is insolvent or that current management faces formal charges. It indicates that a five-year-old tax audit report entered the official register just as the group’s liabilities surpassed its total assets,» noted market analysts.
The legal investigation comes amid a severe financial downturn for the agribusiness. Following the death of Oleksiy Vadaturskyy in August 2022, his son, Andriy Vadaturskyy, took over leadership and initiated a complex debt restructuring process with international and domestic lenders—including the IFC, EBRD, EIB, ING, Crédit Agricole, FMO, DEG, and Raiffeisen Bank.
The company’s financial indicators show a steep decline in recent years:
2021 (Pre-war): Nibulon generated 40.6 billion UAH in revenue with a net profit of 1.3 billion UAH, holding liabilities of 15.2 billion UAH.
2022: Revenue plummeted 63% to 15.2 billion UAH, leading to a net loss of 10.2 billion UAH, while liabilities grew to 22.7 billion UAH.
2024: The company recorded a loss of 646 million UAH, with liabilities standing at 18.4 billion UAH.
2025: Revenue stood at 18.5 billion UAH, but net losses widened to 5.8 billion UAH. Liabilities climbed to a record 23.9 billion UAH, exceeding total assets (21.8 billion UAH) for the first time.
Nibulon’s current liquidity ratio dropped to 0.33, meaning it holds only 33 kopecks in liquid assets for every hryvnia of short-term debt. Total group debt is estimated at around $600 million, matching the scale of physical and operational damages suffered during the war.
Andriy Vadaturskyy attributes the financial strain directly to wartime losses: the blockade of the Mykolaiv port, destruction of river transport routes, stolen grain stocks, and the loss of nearly 70% of operating capacity. According to management, Nibulon generated hundreds of millions of dollars in wartime EBITDA, directing nearly all earnings toward servicing debt obligations.
Nibulon remains a critical player in Ukraine’s agricultural sector, supporting thousands of landowners and operating extensive grain storage facilities. The outcome of the tax investigation and debt restructuring will be closely watched across the industry, as it carries broader implications for financing terms across Ukrainian agriculture.