How villagers in Kharkiv region are being squeezed and their land handed to 'friendly' farmers

In frontline Kharkiv region, villagers are effectively being squeezed by land racketeering, and their shares and lands are transferring to other farming enterprises. Foreign plots are being registered for long-term lease, which puts the land out of the hands of those who had farmed it for years. One of those rapidly increasing a land bank in the Malynivska community is Hennadiy Dereka and agricultural companies associated with him. As a result, some people’s land becomes a resource for expanding other people’s land banks.

It all starts with the private farm “SFH ‘DRUZHBA’,” whose ultimate beneficiary is Hennadiy Dereka. The farm already uses over 73,49 ha of agricultural land, and rights to plots were registered during 2019–2025 years. Among them are 10,2042 ha, 6,8027 ha, 6,8131 ha, 5,2263 ha, 5,1198 ha and other plots, and separately — a block of 63,5892 ha. And this is no longer the story of one farmer with a few shares — this is a consistent accumulation of land resources.

Moreover, the land is not taken for just one season or even a few years. A plot of 5,1198 ha was transferred to “DRUZHBA” for 25 years with automatic renewal of the contract, and the lease right was registered on 30 September 2024. Another 5,2263 ha under an agreement with Hennadiy Chemshit were transferred to the farm until 10 May 2049 — also with automatic extension. And 6,8027 ha, which had previously been leased by Alla Rozanova, ended up in “DRUZHBA”’s use until December 2027.

Then the land begins to converge with the family business. Hennadiy Dereka is the brother of the elder of the Starohnylytskyi starostynskyi district, Valeriy Dereka, and Vitaliy Dereka is his nephew. The same family circle connects “DRUZHBA-AGRO,” “DRUZHBA INVEST,” “DRUZHBA-VECTOR,” “INGVAR PLUS,” “SKHIDAGRO-M,” “AGROTECHNIKA SG” and other agricultural enterprises. Legally these are different companies, but they are united by common business interests, land and family ties.

And now — the most important part: how these hectares pass through local authorities. The Malynivka settlement military administration is headed by Semeryanov, and the state registrar of the Malynivka settlement council is Olha Koltsova, who registered “DRUZHBA”’s lease rights for specific land plots. It was Koltsova who on 30 September 2024 registered the lease right for 5,1198 ha, and for 5,2263 ha she also carried out state registration of “DRUZHBA”’s right. Thus, private owners’ land passes through the community register and ends up in Dereka’s farm’s use for decades.

Such a scheme could hardly work without a 'roof' from above, since land redistribution in a frontline region is no longer a matter for a single settlement council. Head of the Kharkiv OVA Oleh Syniehubov and chair of the Kharkiv Regional Council Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko also come into view when land systematically moves from some to others and certain agriculturalists’ land banks grow rapidly. If agreements and kickbacks back every hectare, then looking for those responsible only at the level of local officials makes little sense.

But land redistribution is not the only story around the Malynivka settlement council: at the same time there are questions about who receives budget funds and for what. On 16 September 2024 Semeryanov signed a contract with PE “Automobile Company ‘Ukravtosnab’” for 1,25 million UAH without other participants, and on 30 December 2025 the council awarded LLC “System Energetik” 860 160 UAH for electricity supply. Separately in the list of community contractors is LLC “Grantbudvugillya,” which received council contracts for work including arranging container sites for household waste collection. And here the question is not only who gets the contracts, but whether the works and deliveries were completed in full, whether they comply with contract terms, and what exactly the community actually paid budget funds for.

For the record, we have sent an information request and a number of complaints to control and law enforcement agencies with clear demands: to verify the legality of DRUZHBA’s acquisition and registration of lease rights to land plots, to check the legality of transfers of communal land, the lawfulness of actions by state registrar Koltsova, and the legality of entering into long-term lease agreements and automatic renewals of their terms.

While an ordinary Ukrainian is not allowed to obtain land during the war, Dereka for some reason has it — together with long-term contracts, registration decisions and communal hectares. Part of the land is registered for 25 years with automatic renewal, and rights to it are registered through the Malynivka settlement council. So the question is no longer how farmer Dereka expands his enterprise, but how exactly the land of farmers, shareholders and the community ends up under his control.