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The Russian government has authorized the duty-free export of up to 6,000 metric tons of sunflower oil manufactured in the Russian-occupied portion of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Region, according to a decree uncovered by The Insider. The measure, government decree No. 1190, was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on September 18.
Under the new quota, the export duty for covered products is set at zero rubles per metric ton. Russia's standard sunflower oil export duty in September stands at 14,377.7 rubles per ton (approximately $170), nearly double the August rate. Should exporters utilize the entire 6,000-ton allowance, they could save in excess of 86.3 million rubles (around $1 million) relative to the September duty. The actual savings will ultimately depend on duty rates in effect during the months in which shipments are made.
The decree establishes a separate administrative procedure for these exports. Quota allocations will be distributed among foreign-trade companies by the Russian-appointed head of the Zaporizhzhia Region, or by an authorized official holding a position no lower than deputy chair of the regional government. Distribution rules must be coordinated with Russia's Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Trade. Once an exporter secures a portion of the quota, it must obtain a one-time license from the Industry and Trade Ministry. The Federal Customs Service has been directed to process shipments on the basis of these licenses.
The decree itself does not specify which companies will receive allocations from the 6,000-ton quota. The official allocation form requires the Russia-installed authorities in Zaporizhzhia to list each recipient company's name, taxpayer identification number, the type of product, and its allocated volume.
One of the largest producers of sunflower oil in the Russian-occupied section of Zaporizhzhia is the Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant, known as MMEZ. The company appears in Russia's corporate register under taxpayer number 9001005262 and state registration number 1229000009435, with oil and fat production designated as its primary line of business. Serhiy Zhelev is listed as owning 60 percent and Liudmyla Zheleva 40 percent, while Svetlana Chernykh serves as general director. In 2024, the Russian legal entity reported revenue of 571 million rubles (approximately $6.8 million) and a net profit of 73 million rubles (around $870,000).
The plant itself has stated that it produces and sells between 30,000 and 35,000 metric tons of oil annually. The new 6,000-ton quota therefore represents roughly one-fifth of the company's stated annual output. The Insider has not uncovered documents showing that MMEZ has received or will receive the new quota allocation.
The ownership history of MMEZ differs from many other cases in which Ukrainian assets came under Russian control following the start of the occupation, as Serhiy and Liudmyla Zhelev were connected to the Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant long before Russia's full-scale invasion. Liudmyla served as a member of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council for President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party, while Serhiy at various times sought election to Ukraine's parliament and to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council. In 2018, he was appointed Honorary Consul of Bulgaria in Ukraine for a consular district covering the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions, an appointment confirmed by Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry.
Serhiy Zhelev's declaration in Ukraine's public asset registry indicates that he and his wife owned shares in PJSC Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant. The filing also records their investments in LLC Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant. According to current data from Ukraine's corporate register, Serhiy and Liudmyla Zhelev remain listed as the ultimate beneficiaries of the joint-stock company and hold substantial stakes in the enterprise.
Following the occupation of Melitopol, the company also came under Russian jurisdiction. The owners of the Russian LLC were again the Zhelevs, with Serhiy holding 60 percent and Liudmyla 40 percent.
Ukrainian law enforcement authorities are examining the circumstances of the re-registration. A March 3, 2026 ruling by Kyiv's Solomianskyi District Court cites investigators as alleging that Serhiy Zhelev, together with his wife and another individual, collaborated with representatives of the Russian occupation authorities to re-register a number of Ukrainian companies in the Russian tax system.
Investigators specifically named the Ukrainian LLC Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant and its corresponding Russian entity, LLC Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant, registered under state number 1229000009435. The criminal case is being pursued under an article covering assistance to an aggressor state.
Following the occupation, the company did not limit itself to the Russian domestic market. In February 2024, the Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant appeared at the Gulfood international food exhibition in Dubai as part of the Russian exhibition.
Photographs from the stand showed the name 'Melitopol' and the company's logo. Ukrainian media reported that the plant participated in the Russian Export Center's 'Made in Russia' pavilion. Ukrainian publication LIGA.net also noted that Serhiy and Liudmyla Zhelev were listed as the owners of the relevant companies in both Ukrainian and Russian corporate registers.
The Russian legal entity subsequently registered the Zdravoliya trademark, which is now used for the plant's products.
The Zaporizhzhia Region was a major center of sunflower oil production before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2021, companies in the region produced approximately 544,000 metric tons of unrefined sunflower oil and an additional 61,000 tons of refined sunflower and safflower oil. The current Russian duty-free quota of 6,000 tons therefore amounts to only about 1 percent of the region's prewar annual output.
The latest government decision is not the first time Russia has introduced a special export regime for agricultural products from occupied Ukrainian territories. For 2025, the Russian government established separate duty-free export quotas for four occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. The quotas for the Zaporizhzhia Region were especially large: up to 1 million metric tons of wheat, barley, and corn, 25,000 tons of sunflower oil, and 35,000 tons of sunflower meal.
Those quotas were in effect from January 1 through December 31, 2025. As under the current system, the right to distribute the exemptions among exporters was given to Russian-appointed regional authorities, while each shipment required a one-time license from the Industry and Trade Ministry. In March 2025, Russian-installed Zaporizhzhia governor Yevgeny Balitsky approved separate rules for distributing those volumes.
Source: The Insider