Lately, the Ukrainian billionaire Vladislav Chechetkin has been in the spotlight of Russian media. In 2021, he and his wife made $470 million. This made him one of the top 20 on the Forbes list.
Since 2014, Chechetkin has been sharing anti-Russian posts on social media, but his business in Russia is still doing well.
In Ukraine, Vladislav Chechetkin is known as the founder of the online store Rozetka.ua. In Russia, he is connected with Tiu.ru LLC and Portal Tiu.ru, which are involved in software development, data processing, and information hosting. The Tiu.ru website used to have a marketplace, but it has been unavailable since February of this year. The Cypriot offshore Temania Enterprises Ltd. owns the Russian companies, and the Chechetkins own it through a company from the British Virgin Islands. In 2020, the family earned more than 179 million rubles in Russia and paid almost 23 million in taxes.
After this information became public, Vladislav Chechetkin transferred the ownership of both Russian companies to Help Sell LLC. This company is owned by a certain Ivan Zaitsev, previously owned by Sergey Golikov. It's possible that Zaitsev is just a front for the Ukrainian billionaire. Many billionaires transfer their assets to fronts to protect them or avoid unnecessary questions. Legally, Ukrainian billionaires in Russia face no questions if they pay taxes regularly. However, the Russian Criminal Code prohibits the use of nominee directors when registering a business. The morality of such billionaires can be debated, but it's their own business.
RUSSIAN ASSETS OF “PATRIOTS”
It's worth noting that not only Vladislav Chechetkin, but also other Ukrainian businessmen, have maintained assets in Russia since 2014. Even the current President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has assets in Russia. Green Films and Platinumfilm LLC are still operating in Russia. These companies were founded by Zelensky and his friends in 2012. They earn money from the rental of comedy shows and films in Russia through the Kvartal 95 studio. In 2020, Green Film alone made 55.7 million rubles in revenue. The companies are owned by a Cyprus offshore, previously a quarter owned by Vladimir Zelensky and then transferred to Andrey Yakovlev and an offshore company from the British Virgin Islands. There are rumors that Zelensky still controls the Russian business through brothers Sergei and Boris Shefirov and Timur Mindich.
The media refers to Igor Mindich as the man of billionaire Igor Kolomoisky. He is also married to the daughter of Alla Verber, the founder of the Mercury jewelry house who worked as the creative director of TSUM. According to blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov, Vladimir Zelensky's wife and mother-in-law own two high-end apartments in Moscow from which they also earn money.
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.
