Lavanda Spectrum acquires Ukraine’s Olimpex Coupe Grain Terminal
The acquisition marks a turning point for the facility, which had been at the center of multiple international and domestic court cases
UKRAINE – Lavanda Spectrum has officially acquired the controlling assets of the former Olimpex Coupe Grain Terminal at Ukraine’s Port of Odesa, renaming it Lavanda Terminal, in a landmark move following years of legal battles and efforts to recover stripped assets.
The acquisition marks a turning point for the facility, which had been at the center of multiple international and domestic court cases. Lavanda Spectrum assumed physical control of the terminal this week and appointed Swedish entrepreneur Carl Sturen as its new chief executive officer.
Sturen, who began investing in Ukraine in 1994, is well known for co-founding Chumak, a major food processing company with strong roots in Southern Ukraine.
“I am excited to take on this new opportunity. We have built an excellent team, and we have absolute confidence that we can transform the grain terminal formerly known as Olimpex into a transparent world-class facility,” Sturen said.
He added that Ukraine has so much potential to attract investment, but it has to shake off the reputation that doing business in Ukraine is high risk due to fraud.
Lavanda’s acquisition comes on the heels of a successful effort to enforce loans secured by Madison Pacific as trustee, following a US$95 million financing package from U.S.-based Argentem Creek Partners (ACP) and co-lenders Innovatus Capital Partners (ICP). The funding was originally granted to G.N. Terminal Enterprises (GNT), the terminal’s former operator.
The asset recovery process was complex, involving Ukrainian and English courts, and included the reversal of fraudulent asset transfers by GNT’s former owners, Sergiy Groza and Volodomyr Naumenko.
The two had attempted to divert core terminal assets, including leasing the facilities to Agiros Ltd., a company sanctioned by Ukraine and tied to notorious smuggler Vadym Alperin, for unauthorized “black” grain exports.
Groza and Naumenko were sentenced in October 2024 to 21 months in prison by an English High Court for breaching asset disclosure orders. In January 2025, the London Court of International Arbitration Tribunal ordered the duo to repay approximately US$150 million to ACP, including interest and legal costs.
Ukrainian authorities arrested Naumenko in May 2025 in connection with the alleged disappearance of over 100,000 tonnes of grain pledged as collateral for the ICP loan.
A crucial development came on July 9, when the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld a ruling by the Western Commercial Court of Appeal that restored control of the terminal to Oleksii Sokol, the court-appointed bankruptcy manager of Olimpex Coupe International. This ruling paved the way for Lavanda to take formal control and begin restoring operations at the strategic dry port.
ACP and ICP, long-time investors in Ukraine, expressed support for Lavanda’s plans to introduce transparent governance and revive the terminal’s operations.
“This is a good day for foreign investors’ rights in Ukraine, the rule of law is prevailing. We look forward to the terminal being operated transparently and profitably, paying taxes to the state and fair wages to its dedicated staff. We will do everything we can to support the process and ensure the terminal resumes operations as soon as possible,” said John Patton, founding partner of ACP.
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