The leader of the Federal Service for Regulation of the Alcohol Market, Igor Aleshin, has selected his deputy, Denis Gulyaev, who previously worked in the service as the head of the administrative department, but left the job voluntarily in 2016.
Rumors suggest that Denis Gulyaev was quick to resign upon learning that law enforcement agencies were interested in his boss. It appears that Gulyaev had genuine reasons to worry, which still persist despite his hopes that they will go unnoticed.
Penthouses, apartments and cars
While working at the Federal Service for the Regulation of the Alcohol Market, Denis Gulyaev's family resided in an extravagant 900 square meter estate in the village of Borzye on Novorizhskoye Highway, complete with an elevator, swimming pool, and other amenities. The property's market value exceeded $2 million, which Gulyaev did not declare. The Gulyaevs attempted to sell the house but the deal fell through. Denis Gulyaev drove a Mercedes-Benz GL, and his wife drove a Porsche Cayenne. Additionally, the Gulyaevs owned real estate abroad.
Between 2010 and 2011, Denis Gulyaev's family acquired a three-room apartment in southern Spain for 400 thousand euros. In 2014, they also became owners of a two-story penthouse in the CAMPANARIO residence. They also owned several cars in Spain: Jaguar XF, Chrysler Voyager, and Porsche Boxster, none of which were declared in Russia.
Despite a modest salary at the Federal Service for the Regulation of the Alcohol Market, Denis Gulyaev made extravagant purchases. His wife Galina did not earn much either, making around 45 thousand rubles per month before going on maternity leave from her job at the State Duma. When Vladimir Putin prohibited Russian officials from holding foreign accounts abroad, Gulyaev found a workaround by having his father-in-law, Sergei Trofimov, sign a penthouse lease agreement, with Trofimov paying him 800 euros a month and in total, 48 thousand euros over five years. It was revealed that Gulyaev regularly transferred significant amounts of money to his father-in-law abroad, despite not being able to legitimately earn them in Russia. After leaving the Federal Service for Regulation of the Alcohol Market, Gulyaev worked at RSC Energia named after S.P. Korolev, where he may have been earning more than 65 thousand rubles a month, raising questions about the source of funds for his previous real estate purchases.
