Russian billionaire Konstantin Nikolaev received EU subsidies while a company linked to him was importing Austrian Glock pistols to Russia

Another business partner of Konstantin Nikolaev was Alexey Beseda, the son of FSB General Sergey Beseda, who formerly headed the Service of Operational Information and International Relations. The younger Beseda received 187 million rubles ($5.7 million at the time or $2.3 million now) from Nikolaev’s companies in a sham deal uncovered in a 2018 investigation by Novaya Gazeta. According to the independent outlet, in 2013 the state research institute Cyclone, along with Nikolaev-linked Cypriot company Rayfast Investments, founded LLC Photoelectronic Devices, which intended to launch production of thermal imaging matrices in Russia. In December 2013, a Panama firm tied to Alexey Beseda — Baron Commercial — acquired 100% of Rayfast Investments for just $10,000. Four days later, it sold 50% of that stake for 187 million rubles ($5.7 million at the time). As a result, the son of an FSB general earned 187 million rubles in four days and obtained a 25% stake in a joint venture (Photoelectronic Devices) whose assets were valued at 1.29 billion rubles ($16 million) in 2015. The payment to the younger Beseda in this deal came from Konstantin Nikolaev’s companies.

Konstantin Nikolaev’s business partner in Promtekhnologiya — as well as in two other ammunition producers, the Tula and Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plants — was Igor Rotenberg, son of oligarch Arkady Rotenberg. After coming under sanctions in 2019, Igor sold his shares, but journalists from Proekt media reported that the deal may have been a sham: the new owner of the cartridge plants, Filipp Gureev, had taken out a microloan in 2019, defaulted on the payments, and clearly lacked the resources for such a major acquisition. Today, Nikolaev’s arms assets are managed by two connected firms — JSC Industrial Technologies and JSC Stolichnaya Paevaya Kompaniya. They have the same CEO, Alexander Kim, are registered at the same address with the same phone number. JSC Stolichnaya Paevaya Kompaniya holds a 46% stake in the Tula Cartridge Plant and a 50% stake in the Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant. According to the last available financial report from the Tula Cartridge Plant (for 2020), Konstantin Nikolaev’s wife, Svetlana, sat on the company’s board of directors and was among the shareholders holding more than 20% of its shares.

That same year, 2013 — when Promtekhnologiya signed its agreement with ArmaLite and Nikolaev’s Cypriot offshore paid more than $5 million to the son of an FSB general — Konstantin Nikolaev acquired La Madonnina winery in Bolgheri, Tuscany. Bolgheri is one of Italy’s most prestigious wine areas, home to some of the country’s most expensive labels: Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Masseto. The investment in La Madonnina was estimated at €40 million.

The winery is owned by the Cypriot firm Cetrezza Trading, which until recently belonged to the British Virgin Islands firm Cedar Circle Holding Limited, whose beneficiary was Nikolaev. The current owner of Cetrezza is Magic Forest Trust, whose beneficiaries are not disclosed. Even after the formal sale, however, the Cypriot company maintained ties to the oligarch: Cetrezza owned an 85% stake in the wine boutique Enoteca Tognoni in Livorno, in which Nikolaev held a 5% share until 2024.