Takeoff Through the pipe

Editorial 03.10.2021 Fold

As the son -in -law of Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev became a citizen of Cyprus and, thanks to offshores, owned a state -owned company contractors with contracts for billions of rubles

The list of so -called foreign agents in Russia is replenished with new names of journalists, activists and human rights defenders. At the same time, they did not acquire citizenship of foreign states, offshore companies and foreign real estate. And relatives and friends of the friends of the Russian president. And these friends continue to lead the country's largest state -owned companies. Sometimes their relatives managed to obtain a second citizenship at the most seemingly inappropriate moment: when foreign states announced sanctions against Russia and its government agencies.

In 2014, the Russian state -owned company “Transneft” fell under the sanctions of the European Union - an oil pipeline monopoly, pumping oil and petroleum products for trunk pipelines. As the “important stories” found out, in the same year, the daughter and son of the head of “Transneft” - a long -standing acquaintance and colleague of Vladimir Putin for the KGB, Nikolai Tokarev, received passports of Cyprus included in the European Union. Tokareva’s daughter managed to become a Cyprus only three months after the imposition of sanctions against Transneft (the authenticity of the data on her Cyprus passport confirmed three sources of “important stories”).

Photo: Alexey Druzhinin / Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation / TASS

We learned about this from the documents of the largest offshore registrars, which have become available thanks to the global Pandora project of the International Consortium of Journalists of Investigators (ICIJ) and the Center for the Study of Corruption and Organized Crime (OCCRP). “Important stories” took part in a joint investigation, which combined the efforts of hundreds of journalists around the world.

In the documents revealing these owners of offshores, trusts and funds, we discovered a lot of interesting things. In particular, it turned out that for several years the son -in -law of Transneft (now former son -in -law) Andrei Bolotov, reliably hidden behind offshores, was the beneficiary of Transneft's contractors. Over the years, several billion rubles have received several billion rubles under contracts with Transneft and its enterprises. Together with the daughter of Transneft, Maya Bolotova, he got apartments in elite residential complexes in the center of Moscow. Invested money in commercial real estate. And even became an offshore partner of the owners of Zastroprombank, who were subsequently accused of embezzlement of more than 100 billion rubles.

"Crushed already" already "

The spacing that Vladimir Putin arranged for Russian power engineers in December 2011 at a meeting of the government commission, many of them will never forget. Putin at that time decided to figure out who controls the contractors of state energy companies and where the funds go. The picture turned out to be bad. The trial ended with the dismissal of some top managers and the initiation of criminal cases.

“Far from the established cases when the energy complexes of entire regions of the Russian Federation are controlled by simply family clans ... He himself leads, he himself gives out money, they earn money, they earn profit. It seems to be legal. It seems to be! Well, they were completely overwhelmed. Sorry, there are simply no other words, ”Putin explained intelligibly to the energy of the conflict of interest. And he developed his thought: “I draw attention to the fact that all these officials and companies affected by them are somehow connected with offshore companies and work through them. And it’s clear why. ”

Then Putin demanded from all state -owned companies, including Transneft, to conduct checks for corruption and connections of contractors with offshores to identify who is behind them. “Where direct violations of the law are visible, I hope that law enforcement agencies will make the relevant decisions, and where a conflict of interest is visible, it also needs to be made as soon as possible to make personnel decisions,” Putin was instructed by the management of state -owned companies.

Transneft had contractors who belonged to offshore firms, who in a short time achieved financial success. But finding those who stood behind them, and it was difficult to prove the connections at that time.

The Moscow Firm “Laboratory of Non -Destroying Control” (NKLAB) appeared in 2010 and at the same time began to participate in checking the quality of welded formations on main oil pipelines. At first, the customers of these works were the construction contractors of Transneft. And then the structures of Transneft itself, which soon appeared on the laboratory website as customers and partners.

In 2014, the laboratory became the only owner of the company Promneftegazavtomatika (PNGA), which began to supply transneft with electrical equipment and establish automation systems. Over the next three years, this contractor received from Transneft and its subsidiaries a hundred contracts for more than 8 billion rubles (according to SPARK).

Documents of one of the largest offshore registrars - the Cyprus Law Firm Demetrios A. Demetriades (Dadlaw) - show that the main beneficiary of the laboratory and, accordingly, the PNA since 2010 was the son -in -law of the head of Transneft Andrey Bolotov. But it was difficult to find it in Russia. The laboratory was controlled by the Cyprus company Milemeadow Trading, the nominal owner of which was the Dadlaw registrar. On this, the visible chain of owners broke off, since the Cyprus lawless man did not reveal the real beneficiary of the company.

This beneficiary was reliably protected by two Trust agreements of 2010 (there are at the disposal of “important stories”). The Dadlaw's law firm kept a share in Milemeadow in a trust declaration in the interests of an offshore company from the British Virgin Islands - Belgrove Holdings. This offshore company, according to another trust declaration, again owned Dadlaw - in the interests of Bolotov.

Now the NKLAB is in the stage of liquidation, and the PNGA is still acting and belongs to its ex-get director-the former partner of Bolotov Sergey Romanov. The companies did not answer the questions of “important stories”.

Friends characterize the former son-in-law of the head of Transneft (he broke up with Molotova Maya about three years ago) as a confident person who was very difficult to refuse to implement his business ideas. Bolotov, a graduate of the FSB Academy, and then the Plekhanov Academy, has been married to Tokarev’s daughter since 1996. Since the time when Tokarev has not yet held big positions and worked together with Putin in the management of the President of the Russian Federation. Tokareva’s daughter works by vocation, a doctor.

Apartments with a fountain

Bolotov’s growth of the welfare can be judged at least partly by how his living conditions changed. Until 2014, he was registered in Moscow, in a panel house on Michurinsky Prospekt in Ramenki. After - the situation has changed dramatically (this, approximately, coincided with the advent of transneft by contractors: NKLAB and PNGA).

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Andrei Bolotov received a Cyprus passport in July 2014. In the documents of Dadlaw, his address was indicated by a small light two -story mansion in the classic style in Germasoy - one of the main tourist areas of the business capital of Cyprus of Limassol. A mansion stretched along the street behind a low fence with forged curls and a metal gate is lounged by trees. From him to the sea is only 600 meters.

In less sunny Moscow, Bolotov also moved to real estate more serious. Judging by the documents Dadlaw, since 2014 it was registered at 19 Bryusov, 19. The residential complex is located a kilometer from the Kremlin. “Club house of de-Lux with a unique architectural appearance. The first residential building in Moscow with a light panoramic atrium. Dear materials in the decoration. The lobby of the VIP level is made using marble and valuable wood. The entrance group is decorated with a luxurious decorative fountain and an aquarium with backlight, ”realtors respond to the house. Bolotov’s apartment in 2010 was recorded on his then wife Maya Bolotov; The apartment has an area of ​​268 square meters and, judging by similar offers , costs no less than 400 million rubles (Bolotov, however, was engaged in a profitable business ).

Since 2013, Bolotov has another apartment in the club residential complex of the Andreevsky premium-class in Khamovniki two steps from the Frunze embankment and three kilometers from the Kremlin. The apartments here with four -meter ceilings, large windows to the floor and balconies with forged fences, cost from 140 to 800 million rubles. “On the ground floor there is a lobby bar, a cigar and billiard rooms ... a gym and a spa zone with a hammam,” the realtors say . Here Bolotov’s apartment has a smaller apartment, 147 square meters, recorded on it, evaluate it based on current proposals , at least 150 million rubles.

People and steamboats

Dadlaw documents show that Andrei Bolotov was a beneficiary of a dozen offshore companies. And he had interesting partners. At least in 2014-2015, Bolotov through firms in the British Virgin Islands was the beneficiary of three Cyprus companies (Wallpath Trading, Bridgebed Consultants and Kipsera Enterprises) together with Georgy Bedzhamov.

Former co -owner of Zastropombank Bedzhamov was under investigation, which began in Russia in December 2015. As a result, the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs identified a waste and theft of more than 100 billion rubles at the bank. Bedzhamova’s sister-ex-president of Zastropombank Larisa Marcus-received eight and a half years of the colony, and Bedzhamov himself left Russia and put on the international wanted list.

02/20/2014 XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. President of the Bobsleya and Skeleton Federation Georgy Bedzhamov during an interview. Photo: Dmitry Korotaev / Kommersant Russia. Moscow. May 2, 2017. Former President of Vneshprombank LLC Larisa Marcus, accused of embezzlement of more than 114 billion rubles, after the consideration of the case in the Hamovniki court. Photo: Dmitry Serebryakov / TASS

Their bank was not easy. He served , in particular, state -owned companies, high -ranking officials and their relatives. Among the customers were Transneft, Rosneft, Rosneftegaz (as Forbes and Vedomosti reported), as well as, for example, the Moscow Patriarchate, the Olympic Committee of Russia, the structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The money at the bank was held by the wife of the Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu, the wife of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak and other remarkable people. The companies of Bolotov were also served there.

The hole in the bank’s balance was huge - about 187 billion rubles. The acquaintance of Larisa Marcus told “important stories” that she personally guaranteed the status people a refund of their money. Legends went about the generosity of Marcus. Her acquaintance says that until the last she did not believe that they could arrest her in Russia. After all, she always provided the necessary payments, who and how much was necessary. I never skimp on expensive gifts. And at the corporate parties of the foreign surmbunk, one could see the whole bomond and meet so many high -ranking officials.

Marcus was also among Bolotov’s offshore partners. At least in 2012 they were the beneficiaries of the Mango Cherry Investments, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Judging by the documents of Dadlaw, companies with the participation of Bolotov, Marcus and Bedzhamov were related to the shares of the Sakhalin Marine Shipping Company. Bolotov, Marcus and Bedzhamov entered his board of directors. And the control package of the shipping company was in the nominal holding of the foreign surmbank. But by 2016, Bolotov and Bedzhamov quarreled. At least in September 2016, as can be seen from the same Dadlaw papers, Bedzhamov tried to instruct the directors of their joint companies "not to transfer information, documents and something."

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Bolotov’s offshore companies participated in a complex system of borrowing, alternating and forgiveness of debt obligations for millions of dollars and euros. The same system was attended by companies related to Bedzhamov.

“Such schemes previously existed and used when it was necessary to move the money from one person to another, but it was not possible to document the origin of the funds,” the Paragon Advice Group partner, Alexander Zakharov, shares the impression.

Bedzhamov did not comment on the situation.

Golden offices

Dadlaw documents show that at least in 2016 Bolotov was a business partner of the former first vice president of Transneft Mikhail Arustamov. And they actively invested in Russian real estate.

They owned the company Grabston Investments (British Virgin Islands), which controlled commercial real estate in Moscow through Cyprus firms: mansions on the Golden Mile - Ostozhenka, 17 and Ostozhenka, with a total area of ​​more than 3 thousand square meters (through Cyprus Becsero Holding), office space, office space Prohub with an area of ​​almost 4 thousand square meters on the 13th floor of the City of Capitals in Moscow City (via Waterbird Investments, this real estate has previously been reported ), as well as the office building near the Frunzenskaya metro: Efremova, 10, area 2 of about 4 thousand square meters. All this real estate costs at least 3.5 billion rubles.

The acquaintance of Bolotov and Arustamov, as well as employees in these offices, say that Bolotov and Arustam could already sell these assets.

Andrei Bolotov, answering questions through a London lawyer, handed over ICIJ that he always acted and would act completely in accordance with the law. And he assured that he was never involved in receiving any unlawful or dubious commercial or business benefit from his personal ties with anyone. He did not go into details.

Transneft did not answer the questions of “important stories” about how the daughter of Nikolai Tokareva received citizenship of one of the EU countries during anti -Russian sanctions and whether she later abandoned the Cyprus passport.

Title photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS