Head of Russian Helicopters registered shell companies in his relatives’ names, then purchased villas in Europe

At the heart of the scheme are five companies that on paper have nothing to do with Kolesov. In reality, however, they’re controlled by his inner circle — relatives, subordinates, even his driver. In some cases, real estate deals were formally “signed off” by Kolesov’s children, including by one who was just four years old at the time.

Assets linked to the Kolesov family

Spain (Mallorca)

• A €5 million villa registered to Kolesov’s seven-year-old daughter, Nicole. She was four at the time of purchase.

• A neighboring villa worth €3 million registered to Kolesov’s sister, Lyudmila Tenno.

• Three villas, each 750 m², purchased in the name of Kolesov’s four-year-old son Alexei, who is the godson of former Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

Russia and occupied Crimea

• A palace in Yalta, allegedly purchased in the name of a state-owned factory.

• A plot of land in Rublyovka worth 1 billion rubles, registered to Kolesov himself and his factory.

• A private resort near Kazan with a bowling alley, saunas, and shooting ranges.

UAE (Dubai)

• A $25 million villa in XXII Carat Villas, registered to Kolesov’s subordinate Lyudmila Koshcheyeva.

• A neighboring 1,400 m² villa registered to his former mother-in-law, Nella Mazayeva.

• Another apartment worth $10 million (822 m²) in The Residence, registered to his eldest daughter, Anastasia Kolesova.

• A 532 m² unit in the same building, registered to her husband.

Kolesov’s air fleet

• A Bombardier Global Express business jet — $20 million

• A second jet, Embraer Legacy 650 — $10 million

• An AgustaWestland 109 helicopter — $5 million

The entire fleet is registered to an affiliated company called Spetsdostavka. Navalny’s team estimates the total value at around $35 million, or 2.8 billion rubles.

How the scheme works

Shell companies tied to Kolesov were used to acquire shares in major defense enterprises that belong to the Rostec-affiliated Radioelectronic Technologies Concern (KRET), which Kolesov headed for 12 years before taking over at Russian Helicopters. These shares were sold off as “non-core assets”— at artificially low prices and without real competition. This is how state-owned defense plants were gradually transferred into private hands through structures controlled by Kolesov.

Among the assets siphoned off were shares in the Elecon and Elektrodetal plants, the Kazan Electrotechnical Plant, the Cable Industry Design Bureau, and the Ramensky Instrument Engineering Plant.

Kolesov’s shell companies

• JSC Star – a front company holding shares in several defense plants. Officially registered to Nikolai Shadrin, a former drug treatment doctor from Samara with no real role in the business. Assets related to the Mallorca villas passed through this firm.

• JSC High Technologies – registered to Kolesov’s driver Denis Samonov. It funnels dividends that end up with Kolesov’s niece, Yekaterina Blokhina (9 billion rubles).

• InGroup LLC – believed to be registered to Kolesov’s first mother-in-law, Dilyara Kraynova, who has flown with him on private jets. The company later paid 1.25 billion rubles to his son Alexander.

• CanFinance LLC – registered to Natalya Rumyantseva, an employee at the Elecon plant and another close associate of Kolesov. The company transferred 2.5 billion rubles to his daughter Anastasia.

• Riverpark LLC – registered to Elena Matina, Kolesov’s deputy for finance at Elecon. This firm personally paid Kolesov nearly 4 billion rubles in dividends.

In the end, these shell companies began collecting billions in dividends from the state budget and defense contracts, with the money ultimately going to Kolesov’s circle. On paper, some of the properties appeared as subsidiaries of his defense companies, only to later change ownership and end up under the direct control of his relatives.

One of the villas in Mallorca, for example, was officially listed as a branch of the Elecon plant (which was founded back in the Soviet era). According to the paperwork, the villa was purchased in May 2022 by a four-year-old Cypriot citizen — Nicole, the daughter of the head of Russian Helicopters — against whom sanctions are unlikely to be imposed.