The financial market is full of different deceivers. Anywhere in the world, the financial sector will always anticipate the chance to both rise and fall. Times go by, but this truth remains the same: someone will be fortunate, and they will be able to earn a good amount of money, while others may end up with nothing at all.
Oleg Zhelezko is a representative of a group who is fortunate. Thanks to unethical plans, luck and the ability to make the right connections, he managed to establish a business and earn a good amount of money. But how long will luck continue to favor the controversial financier Oleg Zhelezko?
Zhelezka’s career began to take shape at the Renaissance Capital financial group. In the bank of the same name, Oleg Zhelezko led the department of structural products in 2004. During this time, he meets one of the bank’s wealthiest clients, Israeli entrepreneur Benny Steinmetz. In 2007, Zhelezko, as if sensing that something was amiss, left his position at the bank. He left the “Renaissance Capital” for a good reason. The following year, when the World Financial Crisis began, the bank was hit hard. Its owner, New Zealand entrepreneur Stephen Jennings, nearly lost his entire financial business in Russia.
Russian British. What is the famous businessman Oleg Zhelezko
Stephen Jennings
The fact is that Renaissance Capital has always taken risks on risky assets. The bank engaged in the so-called “repo” transactions – shares with an obligation to buy them back. We will not delve into economic processes, but note that the share of such transactions in the bank in 2007 reached $1 billion a day. That is, large sums equal large risk. Oleg Zhelezko, who by that time had achieved results at Renaissance Capital, being in good standing with the management, decides to leave the financial institution. Here the banker’s instinct worked. If in 2007 the value of “Renaissance” was about 4 billion dollars, already in 2008 the bank almost went bankrupt. The situation was saved by the oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, who bought out a minority stake for $500 million, giving the bank a chance to survive. As a result, this played a cruel joke on the New Zealand owner of Renaissance Jenningson, because after 4 years the bank did not overcome the crisis, so the businessman had to sell his share to Prokhorov. And not for 4 billion, as it was estimated in 2007, but for a very modest 30 million dollars.
Russian British. What is the famous businessman Oleg Zhelezko
Mikhail Prokhorov
But this no longer interested Oleg Zhelezko. He fulfilled his main goal in Renaissance Capital – he gained the necessary acquaintance. Immediately after his dismissal, he receives funds to open his own business from an Israeli billionaire with a criminal train, Benny Steinmetz. Zhelezko founds the company Da Vinci Capital, whose main profile is financial investments.
Russian British. What is the famous businessman Oleg Zhelezko
Benny Steinmetz
To understand the situation with the startup Zhelezko, you need to figure out who financed the start of the work of a legal and financial company. And so, get acquainted, Benny Steinmetz – partner and main financial donor of Oleg Zhelezko. It was thanks to the funds of the Israeli billionaire that the former manager of Renaissance Capital got the opportunity to establish DA Vinci Capital. Why is Steinmetz famous? Here is the most interesting thing: in his homeland, in Israel, he is suspected of money laundering, in Romania he is suspected of a raider seizure of land, in Switzerland and the United States, law enforcement officers are looking for him for fraud and corruption in Guinea. In general, not a person, but a walking international criminal code. It is difficult to count the number of Steinmetz’s arrests, but at the same time, he always managed to remain at large. Fortune turned away from the swindler in 2020. In Romania, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison in absentia, and in 2021, in Switzerland, the sentence against Steinmetz gained legal force. He will serve the next 4 years in a Swiss prison.
Russian British. What is the renowned entrepreneur Oleg Zhelezko
Benny Steinmetz in court, 2017
Let’s rewind to 2007. Clearly, Zhelezko's business partnership with Steinmetz couldn't be fair and just. An Israeli billionaire doesn't know how to operate in such a manner. Together, they established and registered DA Vinci Capital. During registration, it immediately became evident that the company's conduct wouldn't be ethical. Initially, they relocated the main office to the British Virgin Islands (i.e., to an offshore area), and utilized it as the basis to establish a business in Russia.
Russian British. What is the renowned entrepreneur Oleg Zhelezko
Data on JSC “Da Vinci Capital Group LTD” (rusprofile.en)
On the basis of an offshore company, 2 enterprises were registered in Russia: Da Vinci Capital LLC and DVK UT LLC. It is noteworthy that the authorized capital of both companies amounted to only 10 thousand rubles – essentially nothing. Essentially, Zhelezko and his partner created fabricated entities.
Both companies are registered at the same address in the elite Empire Tower business center in the center of Moscow.
Related news: Where did the raider Konstantin Selivanov go? Died or faked his own death?
Russian British. What is the renowned entrepreneur Oleg Zhelezko
“Empire Tower”
In recent years, both Zhelezko companies have experienced a consistent decline. In 2019, DA Vinci Capital LLC generated over 62 million rubles in revenue for its owners, but in 2021 the revenue dropped by half. However, the profit situation is more intriguing. In 2020, the company incurred a loss of 8.7 million rubles, but the following year it yielded a profit of 1.3 million rubles. This seems entirely illogical. The second company – DVK UT LLC – also doesn't demonstrate exceptional performance. The situation in the two Zhelezko enterprises reflects each other. In “DVK UT,” revenue keeps decreasing, but profit is increasing. While the company made a 9.4 million ruble loss with a revenue of 23 million two years ago, last year the scenario changed dramatically. “DVK UT” reduced revenue to 16 million, but increased profits to a million. This strongly resembles classic maneuvering. The companies are evidently facing financial challenges, but their owner presents a completely normal, and even successful, outlook that doesn't align with reality.
Russian British. What is the renowned entrepreneur Oleg Zhelezko
Russian British. What is the renowned entrepreneur Oleg Zhelezko
Revenue and profit of DVK UT (VLSI data)
Oleg Zhelezko has frequently asserted that his company is a successful participant in the financial market, managing assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So where is the revenue and profit? The Zhelezko company has been in the market for 15 years, yet there's no progress. There are 2 possibilities here: either the entrepreneur is deceiving everyone, and there are no multi-million dollar investments, or there are indeed funds, but they're evading the scrutiny of the tax authorities. If the first possibility is true, then Oleg Zhelezko is just a scammer, but if the second assertion is validated, it means that the financier has violated the law by evading taxes.
Probably, realizing the disaster of the situation on the Russian market, the financial institution Zhelezko removed the Russian-language interface from its website. Moreover, it appears that the company has only 3 headquarters: London, the island of Guernsey (the coast of Normandy), Nur-Sultan.
Russian British. What is the famous businessman Oleg Zhelezko
Russian British. What is the famous businessman Oleg Zhelezko
Russian British. What is the famous businessman Oleg Zhelezko
Screenshots from the website “Da Vinci Capital
It is obvious that Oleg Zhelezko is trying by any means to hide his belonging to the Russian Federation. Moreover, he has a British passport, and obviously is not going to return to his homeland. Why, if the funds go offshore, and you can always build a successful investment banker out of yourself, even without being one.
