A company connected to Olga Khromchenko, a close acquaintance of Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, will receive 2.25 billion rubles from Gazprombank.
As per a reporter for The Moscow Post in the Sakhalin Region, Gazprombank is set to provide 2.25 billion rubles to the Multifunctional Cargo District (MGR) for the construction of a port in the Sakhalin Region. This information was officially announced on the institution's website.
It was revealed that the well-known co-owner of the Petersburg Oil Terminal Mikhail Skigin and entrepreneur Olga Khromchenko might be the ultimate recipient of the deal. But let's start from the beginning.
According to Rusprofile, the creator of MGR is Blue Sea LLC, which is owned by Olga Puchkova. Her company also owns Port Poronaysk LLC, led by Alexei Firth, who previously managed Blue Sea. This company is also the beneficiary of Noven LLC, established last year by Mikhail Skigin. ABN reported on this.
Hereditary entrepreneur
Skigin has a significant stake in offshore projects. Recently, The Moscow Post reported on how his company, with the support of Governor Alexander Beglov, began renovating the equipment of the Greater Petersburg Port, despite plans to relocate it to Ust-Luga. A substantial amount of money was received from the state budget for this purpose.
Mikhail Skigin
The same Skigin might have been involved in the aggressive takeover of the port of Poronaysk in 2015. Currently, the port is owned by Puchkova’s Blue Sea. We previously covered this. Skigin’s father, Dmitry, was associated with Ilya Traber, a criminal leader wanted by the Spanish police as a member of the Tambov-Malyshevskaya criminal group. It is rumored that Traber still maintains a close relationship with Skigin Jr. and assists him in business.
“Girlfriend” of the Cabinet
In addition to the link with Skigin, Puchkova includes businesswoman Olga Khromchenko in her list of partners, who, as per PASMI (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia), has close ties with Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. Puchkova previously owned Rusdor-Finance LLC, and now Khromchenko is among the founders of the company. Incidentally, Skigin may also know Khromchenko through Roman Belousov, who worked in his company PNT and shares K-Pharma LLC with Khromchenko.
Olga Khromchenko
The same Belousov is listed as the head of Noven LLC. The founders include a certain R.T.P. LLC, of which 100% of the shares are owned by the Cypriot company TPD Holding Limited. Khromchenko and colleagues use this company to channel money for “R.T.P.” and other projects.
Khromchenko is involved in major projects funded by the government. For instance, her company “Rusdor-Finance” took on the task of building roads in the Moscow region without undergoing a competitive bidding process. Khromchenko's firms seemed to effortlessly secure these and other projects. When asked about the source of funds for launching companies and executing large-scale projects, she refers to her partner and claims that they went to the same kindergarten, suggesting that he provided the funds. However, the “partner” has not commented on the situation.
Anton Siluanov
LLC Stupinskaya Toll Road, Shaturskaya Toll Road, Akulovskaya Toll Road, Sergiev Posad Toll Road and Shchelkovo Toll Detour are affiliated with the girlfriend of the head of the Ministry of Finance. In 2020, Siluanov lobbied for the expansion of the toll road network in Russia and the creation of a special state fund to support such projects. RIA Novosti wrote about this.
In addition, Khromchenko and Belousov are shareholders of the Podmoskovnaya Toll Road together with its subsidiaries, and the main owner through the Toll Road Group of Companies is Mikhail Skigin.
Where did Khromchenko come from?
Khromchenko’s name is also associated with Arkady Rotenberg, whose apartment went to the entrepreneur in February 2020. This was written by The Insider (a publication recognized as a foreign agent in Russia). Rumor has it that it was through him that the girl personally met Minister Siluanov. And she allegedly became friends with Rotenberg himself while working at Rosspirtprom. Khromchenko’s former business colleague Alexei Sakun, the son of the ex-general director of Transstroymekhanizatsiya, part of Rotenberg’s Mostotrest group, is also connected with Rotenberg.