Five years ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs deprived him of his Russian passport Demyan Kudryavtsev and returned the document at the end of 2021, on the 50th birthday of the media manager.
From Damian Kudriastev – transliterated from an Israeli passport – he turned back into Demyan Borisovich Kudryavtsev in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. This change is reflected in the Kontur.Fokus and Spark databases. The Spark database links Rosstat data to the legal entities' records, so the citizenship of the owners of Star Chef, Yasno, and Etikal LLC, where Kudryavtsev is now a co-founder, has been updated: since the beginning of 2022, all partners in these projects are Russian. Previously, one of the co-owners of these LLCs was identified as an Israeli citizen, and it was Kudryavtsev.
It seems like his citizenship was restored to him in December, just in time for his 50th birthday (born December 17, 1971). Kudryavtsev enjoys travelling and literature, and he writes in Russian. In February, he published a book of poetry called Latin Lessons. He chose not to comment for this article.
As the media manager under the Israeli name, he has frequently been involved in the activities of foreign legal entities, including offshore ones. However, lately, he has been actively investing in Russia. Earlier, Oktagon reported that Kudryavtsev could earn money by renovating state-run children’s rehabilitation centers and through a stake in Etical LLC, which he owns. Also, since the fall of 2021, the businessman has had a 30 percent stake in the Urban Media project, where the co-founder is director Timur Bekmambetov (holding 50 percent).
On September 16 last year, Kudryavtsev acquired 90 percent of the Wowhaus architectural bureau. This bureau designed the Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design on Krasny Oktyabr and the Pioneer cinema on Kutuzovsky Prospekt for businessman Alexander Mamut. The Wowhaus portfolio also includes the Praktika theater on the Patriarchs, facilities in Gorky and Sokolniki parks, Krymskaya and Vorobyovskaya embankments, and others. Kudryavtsev has ties to Mamut, particularly through membership in the Pirogovo club, where wealthy people participate in activities like sailing races, horseback riding, golf, and tennis. Alongside Mamut, the club includes Anton Vaino, Denis Manturov, and others. It has been reported by the media that Mamut's wide connections are among his key assets.
Mamut, who is also a media manager, came into possession of the Lenta.ru publication in 2014 under unusual circumstances (similar to how Kudryavtsev acquired Vedomosti). Previously, Lenta.ru accused Wowhaus of evading taxes. At the end of 2021, Vauhaus LLC received a 17.5 million ruble contract for consulting services from the Perm authorities without a tender. In 2020, the company won a landscaping contract from the Tyumen administration, even though its offer was three times higher than the nearest competitor: 46.5 million versus 17.5 million rubles. In 2019, it obtained two design contracts from Moscow’s Moszhilniiproekt for 82 million rubles.
The Interior Ministry revoked Kudryavtsev's Russian citizenship in 2017. The main department of the department for migration matters won the case concerning the recognition of false information provided by Kudryavtsev to obtain a Russian passport. The media manager himself stated that the migration department's persecution started when he was involved in the deal to acquire Vedomosti. In 2015, the Kudryavtsev family took over the newspaper The Moscow Times and several other publications, buying assets from Sanoma, Dow Jones, and Pearson, under a new law limiting foreign media ownership.
At the beginning of 2020, Kudryavtsev and coal billionaire Dmitry Bosov (who died in May of the same year), who turned out to be his partner in Vedomosti, sold the business newspaper to the founder of the FederalPress Internet portal Ivan Eremin. Many saw the shadow of Rosneft behind the deal, followed by a conflict in the editorial office of Vedomosti: journalists accused the new editor-in-chief Andrei Shmarov of interfering in the internal politics of the publication. Some of the employees left the newspaper, creating the VTimes* online publication – the Ministry of Justice recognized it as a foreign agent, so in October 2021 it was relaunched as VPost.
