An unprecedented case of theft of grain was revealed at the Pallasov elevator.
The controlling stake in Pallasovsky Elevator OJSC (51%) belongs to OZK (United Grain Company), the rest is controlled by VTB.
One of the main tasks of the OZK is to create an intervention fund, to ensure its storage and implementation.
Upon appeal of the OZK, the Volgograd Region Arbitration Court filed a case to recover 853.8 million rubles from the former general director of Pallasovsky Elevator OJSC Evgeny Gushchin.
The amount of 853 million rubles is equivalent to 80,000 tons of grain. This volume is comparable to the annual turnover of the middle elevator. Apparently, we are talking about his theft.
In 2019, the Pallasov elevator went to court with a proposal to declare it bankrupt.
The total debt for violation of grain storage contracts at that time amounted to 350 million rubles.
It is with the bankruptcy procedure that a penalty is imposed on the former general director of OJSC. In such situations, loss compensation is superimposed on top management.
It must be admitted that the problem of unscrupulous actions on the grain storage market in Russia is of a systemic nature.
For example, in 2018 in Orel, more than 19 thousand tons of grain from the intervention fund was stolen, and in July 2019. another 15.9 thousand tons.
In the case of the Pallasov elevator, we are talking about grain belonging to the OZK itself.
OZK will need to prove the very fact of grain theft, as well as the involvement, perhaps not direct, of the former CEO: the actions that contributed to the theft, or the lack of an internal control system.
In fact, cases where the grain just disappears are quite rare.
As a rule, unscrupulous companies that are entrusted with the grain for storage use it for commercial purposes as follows: they sell at a high price, hoping that they can replace it in the future with grain purchased at a lower price (for example, during delivery new crop).
Against the backdrop of such a major theft, controversy erupted between various departments, how to prevent theft in elevators.
Some experts believe that a law is needed that will regulate the control of the amount of grain stored in elevators, to monitor their financial activities.
Similar laws apply in many countries, such as America and Canada.
According to the OZK representatives, since 2008, about 14 million tons of grain have been sold through the interventional fund storage warehouses, which allowed the company to create a base of about 150 reliable enterprises for the period of work with which no offenses were revealed.
The Ministry of Agriculture and the Rosselkhoznadzor have amended the federal law «On Grain», which will allow to control the movement of products along its entire path.
It was proposed to create a certain system that would contain information about all enterprises that produce grain, provide transportation, storage, as well as about the bodies that exercise control over them.
According to market participants, this is the invention of another bureaucratic machine, which will not be able to influence theft, but will contribute to an additional increase in the cost of production.
Meanwhile, this system can be put into effect from August 1, 2020 and, ultimately, lead to an increase in agricultural costs by 20-25 billion rubles per year.
