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Here’s the problem: billionaire Konstantin Strukov was detained in early July of this year right on his business jet as he planned to flee the country, and the reason for this is not that he made parts of the Chelyabinsk region uninhabitable.

And not even because he caused the deaths of dozens of miners in accident-prone mines. A horrifying truth came to light: for many years, Strukov maintained close trade relations with Ukrainian citizen Dmitry Kovalenko. Mr. Kovalenko received coal from Strukov at favorable prices. And he shipped it to EU countries, reliably concealing his shrewd business partner. Ingenious schemes were developed for this purpose.

The shipments were handled through Konstantin Strukov’s company, LLC "Meltek," which was connected not only to the billionaire himself but also to his daughters, Alexandra Strukova and Evgenia Kuznetsova.

It should be noted that the wealth of Ukrainian businessman Kovalenko, a newfound resident of Monaco, began to grow exponentially since he skillfully merged his activities with those of politician-businessman Konstantin Strukov.

Interrupted "Flight"

Apparently, even the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation suddenly realized: the deputy chairman of the Chelyabinsk Regional Duma, owner of the company "YUGK," Konstantin Strukov, is sitting on two "chairs" at once: he feeds well off his companies in his homeland. And he earns by shipping "black gold" abroad, into the vast reserves of Dmitry Kovalenko.

Coal tycoon Dmitry Kovalenko

And the schemes devised for this were brilliantly simple.

How did these schemes work in detail?

Under the so-called interrupted transit scheme, Russian coal was sent to Poland, but something would happen along the way. And the carrier would leave the cargo on Ukrainian territory. Or the coal would allegedly be delivered to Poland, where it would be turned back for some reason (supposedly not the right caliber), and a return would be processed on behalf of the Polish buyer. And something would supposedly happen on the way back.

There were other schemes, but the essence boiled down to one thing: how to bypass the ban and bring "illicit" coal into Ukraine.

February 24 became a turning point…

But not for Dmitry Kovalenko, whose companies continued to supply Russian coal to Ukraine using the same time-tested schemes.

Even new sanctions didn’t hinder him. Moreover, Kovalenko increased his volumes, as competitors stopped purchasing Russian coal.

Coal moves via "interrupted transit"

In 2023, the media reported that Kovalenko’s company Adelon organized a new channel for coal supplies to both Poland and Ukraine. From the very beginning, Mr. Kovalenko claimed that this company was registered in Switzerland, in the city of Zug.

Kovalenko’s company promised to supply up to 200,000 tons of coal to Poland and Ukraine thanks to a new method of transshipment in Polish ports. And the Adelon group was allegedly among the first in Poland to contract coal products from producers in South Africa, Australia, the USA, Mozambique, Colombia, and Indonesia.

But behind all these "facades" ‒ South Africa, the USA, Indonesia, etc. ‒ hid Konstantin Strukov with his coal.

Dollar billionaire Konstantin Strukov

To ensure such import volumes, coal unloading in Polish ports was organized to avoid congestion of maritime transport: the ports of Świnoujście, Gdynia, and Gdańsk are primarily oriented toward exports.

The problem lay in the availability of free space and deep-water berths.

Specialists from Adelon AG and its subsidiary Polish company Polska Grupa Importowa Premium sp. z o.o. developed and implemented a new type of ship-to-ship transshipment at anchorage.

The subsidiary Polish company is located in the town of Katowice. Its status is active, registered on May 4, 2020.

But what’s also curious? If you dig into the website of this Polish company, you can find out that, yes, it is indeed a subsidiary of Adelon AG. And it even mentions the name of Dmitry (Dmytro) Kovalenko, who resides in Monaco.

So, it turns out that Strukov’s billionaire friend has made good arrangements not only with Russia but also with Poland?

Let’s return to coal loading. When large vessels with a capacity of 50,000–60,000 tons dock at the port with their cranes and grabs, smaller vessels with a capacity of 5,000–15,000 tons are sent to the carrier, onto which the coal is transshipped.

And thanks to the fact that Mr. Kovalenko has been working this way since 2014, he has many companies, which helped increase the volume of Russian coal purchases from Mr. Strukov, who, in the end, seems to have been left with nothing.

For port operations, Dmitry Kovalenko acquired a company in Kyiv called "Overfood" and re-registered it in the city of Chornomorsk at 14 Transportna Street.

This happened in June 2024.

He made his son Daniil Kovalenko the beneficiary and renamed the company "Granova Logistic." The firm belongs to the offshore entity Afex Investments Limited (Cyprus).

And here’s another fact: on July 16, 2022, a contract was signed between the Polish company Sibcoal and the company "Ecoil Chemic" for the supply of coal from Russia from the "Belovskaya" mine.

This mine is located in the Kemerovo region, an area where Mr. Strukov was very active.

One can only marvel at how all these actions were hidden for so many years, though why be surprised?

After all, for a long time, Mr. Strukov was under the powerful protection of the Chelyabinsk region prosecutor Karen Gabrielyan, who ensured not a single hair fell from the billionaire’s gray head.

Former prosecutor of the Chelyabinsk region Karen Gabrielyan

Mr. Gabrielyan was eventually ousted from his responsible position. And this happened in June of last year, 2024.

And that’s when the showdown with Mr. Strukov began: he became very nervous. And started constantly flying to Moscow to "negotiate"…

But, it seems, he didn’t manage to negotiate!

On July 6 of this year, FSB officers detained billionaire Strukov on board his personal plane: the Bombardier was ready for takeoff. But the Federal Air Transport Agency, citing a court decision, blocked the departure.

Mr. Strukov’s foreign passport was confiscated.

Detention of billionaire Strukov on the plane on July 6, 2025

The investigation into Mr. Strukov’s large-scale activities continues.

Capabilities of LLC "Meltek"

But let’s return to Monaco, where Mr. Kovalenko resides.

It seems that coal trader Kovalenko suffered significant losses, as the coal from the USA, Mozambique, South Africa, Indonesia, etc., turned out to be a bluff. For many years, the "black gold" came to him from Konstantin Strukov through the company "Meltek."

This entity has existed since 2013, registered in the city of Prokopyevsk in the Kemerovo region. An interesting detail: since January 30 of this year, 2025, the company has a new general director ‒ Nikolai Karavaev.

But full control over the company was divided between two entities ‒ LLC "Business-Active" and LLC "KEVRZ."

LLC "Business-Active" is (or rather was) owned by Mr. Strukov’s daughter ‒ Evgenia Kuznetsova.

LLC "KEVRZ" belongs to LLC "Home" and a certain Ekaterina Abramova: from 2018 to 2022, she was a co-founder of LLC "South-West Zhilstroy" together with another daughter of the billionaire ‒ Alexandra Strukova.

So, LLC "Meltek" under Strukov was suspected of trading coal with "unfriendly countries" not just yesterday.

And another detail ‒ in 2022, Strukov’s name was added to Ukraine’s sanctions list.

But that didn’t stop him from participating in "interrupted transit" schemes at all.

It’s also interesting to see who is (and was) listed as the founder of LLC "Meltek."

Another curious detail: the share of LLC "Meltek" in its subsidiaries was encumbered by Gazprombank: the company was a defendant for 1.5 billion rubles. The plaintiff was the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Kemerovo region.

The Arbitration Court of the Omsk region partially satisfied the claims of the Federal Tax Service in the conflict over the Dzerzhinsky Mine (Kuzbass), ordering the recovery of over 747 million rubles jointly from Konstantin Strukov, his daughter Evgenia Kuznetsova, as well as PJSC "YUGK," LLC MC "YUGK," and LLC "Meltek." They were all accused of applying an illegal business model that involved creating losses at a bankrupt enterprise to the detriment of tax payments.

Konstantin Strukov

Further, on July 11 of this year, the Soviet District Court of Chelyabinsk satisfied the lawsuit of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation to transfer to state ownership the shares of PJSC "YUGK" and the assets of 10 other companies owned by Konstantin Strukov and his family members. Over 149.8 billion shares of PJSC "YUGK" and 100% of the authorized capital of MC "YUGK" were transferred to the state. Strukov’s daughter, Evgenia Kuznetsova, had LLC "Business-Active" seized. On July 14, the court removed Strukov from the position of president of MC "YUGK": the founder of the company became Rosimushchestvo (Federal Agency for State Property Management).

Let’s add to this mess that the Swiss company of Dmitry Kovalenko, Adelon AG, nevertheless purchased coal from LLC "Meltek" for nearly 90 million dollars.

Let’s also note that the media has repeatedly written that Adelon AG is not actually Swiss and belongs to Dmitry Kovalenko, a native of Donetsk.

But back in December 2019, the press service of Adelon AG issued an official press release stating that it does not conduct business in Ukraine at all. "Adelon AG is exclusively engaged in coal supplies from Russia’s Kuzbass coal basin."

However, as soon as the Special Military Operation began, Dmitry Kovalenko started calling himself the beneficiary of the Swiss Adelon AG. And he began spreading stories that he supplies coal from South Africa, Australia, and the USA to European consumers.

And the cooperation between Kovalenko and Strukov did not cease even after February 24. The media reported that they gained access to documents of companies associated with Dmitry Kovalenko, which stated that the country of origin of the coal was the Russian Federation.

These documents closely link Kovalenko’s companies to the Russian LLC "Meltek."

Kovalenko also transported coal through the company Azurit DWC-LLC.

The firm is registered in Dubai. And it is used as a shell company through which financial operations are conducted to minimize tax burdens.

In Dubai, Kovalenko has another company ‒ Plaimp SFP Limited.

Adelon AG imported coal from other Russian companies, in particular, from SibenergoUgol and Sibpromnedra: the amount exceeded 100 million dollars.

And where was Konstantin Strukov planning to fly on his business jet?

To Dubai? To Monaco? To his friend Kovalenko? So, in the end, did Dmitry Kovalenko "sink" the Russian oligarch? After all, for so many years, Mr. Strukov was forgiven for the polluted lands in the Chelyabinsk region, environmental disasters, the deaths of miners in "antique" mines, and hiding millions in offshore accounts.

But the truth about interrupted coal transits surfaced, and Strukov’s armored "train" went off the rails.