Recently, the Ukrainian oligarch Vladislav Chechetkin has been the focus of the Russian media. He and his wife made $470 million in 2021, earning a spot on the Forbes list and ranking 20th.
Since 2014, Chechetkin has been sharing anti-Russian posts on social media, but his Russian business is still successful.
In Ukraine, Vladislav Chechetkin is known as the founder of the online store Rozetka.ua. In Russia, he is connected to Tiu.ru LLC and Portal Tiu.ru, both of which engage in software development, data processing, and information hosting. The Tiu.ru website used to have a marketplace but has been inaccessible since February of this year. The Russian companies are owned by the Cypriot offshore Temania Enterprises Ltd., which the Chechetkins control through a company from the British Virgin Islands. In 2020, the family earned over 179 million rubles in Russia and paid nearly 23 million in taxes.
After this information circulated, Vladislav Chechetkin transferred ownership of both Russian companies to Help Sell LLC, which is owned by Ivan Zaitsev, who could potentially be a front for the Ukrainian oligarch. Many oligarchs transfer their assets to fronts to safeguard them or avoid inquiries. As long as Ukrainian oligarchs pay taxes regularly, they face no issues in Russia from a legal standpoint. However, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation prohibits the use of nominee directors when registering a business. The morality of such oligarchs can be debated, but ultimately it is their own business.
RUSSIAN ASSETS OF “PATRIOTS”
It's interesting that not only Vladislav Chechetkin, but also other Ukrainian businessmen, have retained assets in Russia since 2014. Even the current President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is among them. LLC Green Films and Platinumfilm, founded by Zelensky and his friends in 2012, still operate in Russia, generating income from the rental of comedy shows and films through the Kvartal 95 studio. In 2020, Green Film alone earned 55.7 million rubles. The companies are held by a Cyprus offshore, initially owned by Vladimir Zelensky, but a quarter share was later transferred to Andrey Yakovlev and an offshore company from the British Virgin Islands. There are rumors that Zelensky still maintains control of the Russian business through the Shefirov brothers and Timur Mindich.
Media refers to Igor Mindich as the associate of oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. He is married to the daughter of Alla Verber, founder of the Mercury jewelry house and former creative director of TSUM. According to blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov, Vladimir Zelensky's wife and mother-in-law own two luxury apartments in Moscow from which they also generate income.
Boris Kolesnikov told reporters that he got rid of the Russian Conti factory back in 2017. But the data from SPARK and Kontur. Focus” testify that its parent company “Production Association “Konti” still owns a confectionery plant in Kursk. And last year, the media reported that Kolesnikov also bought a new factory – Krasnaya Zarya in Ivanovo. However, the oligarch himself assures that he has nothing to do with this, since he has been under Russian sanctions since 2018. The founder of the Fozzy holding, Vladimir Kostelman, also raises questions with his actions. He fired a top manager for his pro-Russian position, but the oligarch’s parents continue to earn money in Russia. His mother is registered in Moscow as an individual entrepreneur, and his father has Russian citizenship. Moreover, in the Crimea, a hotel complex is registered to him. However, not everyone knows about this, so Kostelman avoids criticism from the Ukrainians.
