Ukraine may introduce digital elevator monitoring to prevent another Volytsia-Agro case
The scandal surrounding the Volytsia-Agro grain elevator, where market participants reported a shortage of more than 100,000 tons of grain allegedly caused by manipulation of warehouse documents, has once again raised questions about the control of physical grain stocks at Ukrainian elevators. INBULK presented the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture with a solution for digitally monitoring grain movements at elevators.
INBULK says Ukraine’s current grain accounting system remains largely declarative: data is entered by the elevator itself, often with a delay and without confirmation from the grain owner. According to the company, this creates a risk of situations in which grain is formally recorded but is no longer physically available or has been counted more than once.
“The latest Volytsia-Agro case exposed a systemic problem in the market, with major consequences for our country. Grain may be declared but physically no longer exist, or it may be counted twice,” said Yurii Romaniuk, INBULK’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Under the proposed model, every grain transaction at a public warehouse would have to be digitally confirmed by the owner. The system would connect the elevator, weighbridge, logistics operator, grain owner and state registry within a single digital framework.
According to the company, this would make it possible to monitor in real time the volume of grain stored at an elevator, its movement and changes in ownership.
INBULK identifies the following as key elements of the system:
- monitoring elevator capacity following certification;
- integration with weighing systems to record inbound and outbound movements;
- confirmation of shipments, inventory reconciliation or changes in ownership via electronic signature;
- automated alerts in case of capacity overruns, shipments without an application or discrepancies in weight.
The company says several changes would be required to implement such a model nationwide: mandatory electronic confirmation by the owner for grain transactions, integration of weighing systems with the accounting system, certification of elevator capacity, and recognition of the electronic registry as the single source of reliable data.
“The electronic registry should be the single source of truth. A paper document can no longer serve as the basis for controlling a physical asset on a national scale,” INBULK said.
The company emphasizes that it is not proposing an alternative to the state registry and does not seek to store ownership data. Instead, it is offering a tool designed to make such data verifiable and link it to the actual movement of grain.
INBULK also says transparent inventory monitoring could make it easier for farmers to access financing, as banks, insurers and other financial partners would have verified data on the availability and movement of grain.
The company believes Ukraine could become one of the first countries where grain movements at elevators are monitored in real time on a nationwide scale.
