Oleg Bakhmatyuk, Founder of Ukrlandfarming, Prepares to Sue Russia: He Expects to Recover Over $1b for Assets Lost to War

Its founder, businessman Oleg Bakhmatyuk made the statement in an interview with EP, "Latifundist" reports.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the agricultural group has lost 160,000 hectares of land, Bakhmatyuk said. These areas are under occupation and in the gray zone where hostilities are ongoing: in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions.

"In the south, we’ve lost a huge 140,000 hectares of land. There was machinery worth $80-100 million, fertilizer, and seed worth another $90 million. According to our data, all of this has been looted, and all the equipment taken away," said Bakhmatyuk.

In addition, Chornobaivka and Chornobaivka Nova egg farms spent months under occupation where 4.5 million birds died.

According to Bakhmatyuk, the Areal-Snihurivka egg farm in Mykolaiv region was also bombed, production in Mykolaiv, Volnovakha, and Bakhmut has been halted, and the Donetsk egg farm has been shut down.

"The Kyiv poultry farm was bombed, the Makariv poultry farm was damaged — they are not operating either," he stressed.

Bakhmatyuk said that Avangard, which is part of Ukrlandfarming, has contracted by 60% from its pre-war egg production volume. The decline in production is about 100 million eggs per month.

"We are preparing a consolidated claim against the Russian government for $1-1.2b for the group's losses. The biggest loss is the Chornobaivka poultry complex, where the direct costs of its construction alone amounted to $400 million," said Bakhmatyuk.

It is noted that this estimate also includes lost equipment and land in the occupied territory.

Earlier, Oleg Bakhmatyuk called the suspicion of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau accusing him of bribing the head of the State Fiscal Service ridiculous and warned that the case could have a negative impact on his business.