Victor Nusenkis: The False Greek Oligarch at the Head of an Orthodox Thieves' Corporation. Part 2
It's clear that the seeds of separatism weren't born and lovingly nurtured in southeastern Ukraine today, yesterday, or even the day before. Almost since the country broke away from the sinking "Titanic" called the USSR, pro-Russian public organizations and parties have been active in Crimea and Donbas. Not to mention homegrown "patriots" like today's "Regionals," who later diligently drummed into the heads of the impoverished "lokhtorat" that Donbas "isn't just talking nonsense," that other regions should "listen," and that the people here are special, not like those in other regions. Local oligarchs, owners of local businesses and mines, who wield influence over the masses and often have close ties to "brotherly" Russia, have also become the instigators of the current turmoil in the southeast.
It's also clear that it will be extremely difficult for the authorities to eradicate the schismatic rot in the minds of citizens, even without a great deal of effort and time spent on disinfection through effective counter-propaganda. However, the terrorists of the DPR and LPR themselves have made a significant contribution to this process; having lived "under them," many of their supporters in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions quickly saw the light and rallied under the yellow-and-blue flags.
But the situation is such that even if Ukraine succeeds in its fight against the Russian-terrorist invasion and restores relative order in this part of the country, relapses are possible. Moreover, pro-Russian sentiments in the regions remain strong – not least because in many cities, people are simply deprived of any reliable information.
And if we take into account who de facto controls Donbass, owning key enterprises and property, the situation looks even more alarming.
So, who are these real masters of the region? Who sponsors terrorist quasi-organizations like the DPR, LPR, and the mythical Novorossiya, a project the Kremlin has clearly written off? And how could these people pose a threat to Ukraine in the future?
There's such an enterprise – the Financial and Industrial Group "Concern Energo." The concern's main activities are ferrous metallurgy, coke, coal, and agricultural product trading. The organization was founded in the turbulent 90s, and at its origins stands Victor Nusenkis, who began his career in Makeyevka and now resides permanently in the Moscow region, where he runs an Orthodox boarding school for the children of influential parents (we'll return to the "spiritual" component of Nusenkis's activities later). According to data held by the IS Group, Nusenkis's net worth amounts to $2,3 billion.
Young Lenya started out as a simple mine surveyor at the Batov mine. His career then followed a classic path: becoming the son-in-law of Vasily Mironov, the first secretary of the Donetsk regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, he was already the director of the Zhdanovskaya mine at 31. At the same time, the future business mogul prudently infiltrated the government, serving on the Zhdanovka city executive committee. Having received such a handsome starting bonus, Nusenkis began accumulating capital by acquiring mines and enterprises. He also began doing business in neighboring Russia, specifically transporting timber from Siberia.
In 1992, he founded the Energo concern, initially a trading firm that helped state-owned factories organize barter purchases. In 1998, Nusenkis purchased the Krasnoarmeyskaya-Zapadnaya No. 1 mine from the state. After repairing the battery of the Yasinovsky Coke and Chemical Plant, the Energo concern, as the main investor, purchased the enterprise from the state (we can now begin to count the number of enterprises in Donbas controlled by the "Orthodox businessman" from the Moscow region).
Next, Nusenkis initially provided loans to the Makeyevka Coke and Chemical Plant, then, using bankruptcy proceedings, seized control and then bought it for $15 million.
In 2000, Pakistani businessman Mohammad Zahoor sold Donetsk Metallurgical Plant OJSC to Nusenkis.
The former mine surveyor is also developing his business outside of Ukraine. In 1998, our hero acquired the Zarechnaya mines (Kuzbass, Russia) and built the Sputnik mining and processing plant. In 2008, Nusenkis built a coal terminal in Ventspils, Latvia (design capacity of 6 million tons per year), and in 2009, he acquired the rights to develop the Serafimovsky section of the Ushakovskoye deposit (licensed coal reserves of 163 million tons, and including the reserve block, 393 million tons). In 2009, Nusenkis acquired the Alekseyevskaya and Oktyabrskaya mines in Russia, as well as the Yurginsky Machine-Building Plant. Donetskstal-MZ CJSC was created on the basis of Concern Energo.
Currently, Nusenkis's assets in Ukraine are represented by the Donetskstal Group of Companies. The coke industry is represented by PJSC Yasinovsky Coke and Chemical Plant and OJSC Makeyevka Coke and Chemical Plant. The steel division is PJSC Donetskstal-Metzavod (DMZ), PJSC Donetsk Metallurgical Plant, and Pavlograd Electric Steelmaking Plant TSA-Steel Group. The coal sector is represented by PJSC Pokrovskoe Mine Administration (formerly Krasnoarmeyskaya-Zapadnaya Mine No. 1), the Svyato-Varvarynskaya Processing Plant branch of PJSC DMZ, and the Chumakovskaya Central Processing Plant. The agroholding includes Agrofirm Agrotis LLC (Donetsk), the agricultural company Druzhba LLC, Laktis PJSC, Winter PJSC, the Nikolsky agricultural processing complex, the Maryinsky inter-farm feed mill, and the Malinovka breeding farm. The mechanical engineering division is represented by Donetsk Electrotechnical Plant LLC. Finance is provided by Kreditprombank PJSC and Garant Polis Insurance Company. Ukrinkomliz Transport – Sabi Airlines PJSC Leasing Company, Krasnoarmeysk Automobile Enterprise Ukrbud PJSC, and the media include the magazines Radost Moya and Shishkin Les. IT technology is provided by Matrix LLC.
In addition, the Donetskstal Group is actively engaged in the integrated development and use of coal methane reserves in Ukraine.
Having assessed the scope of the activities of the Concern Energo financial-industrial group, which, without a doubt, through its management and stakeholders, could significantly influence the economic and social situation in Donbas, it's worth taking a closer look at the people involved in one way or another in the creation and operation of the financial-industrial group. The group includes priests of the Russian church, criminal authorities, and shareholders registered in Cyprus and the Netherlands.
According to the data collected by analysts of Information Resistance, the circle of persons having influence on the activities of the financial-industrial group includes: the chairman of the supervisory board of Donetskstal Metallurgical Plant CJSC, the shareholder of Concern Energo, the owner of SAVI LLC Yuri Filatov, Vladimir Logvinenko (former governor of the Donetsk region), Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill (!), CEO of Donetskstal-MZ PJSC Alexander Ryzhenkov, Hero of Ukraine (!), Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol Hilarion.
One of the most influential shareholders of the financial-industrial group is Konstantinos Papunidis, a Georgian-born Greek citizen and a Georgian crime boss nicknamed "Kostya the Greek." Funds intended for criminal figures, both in prison and at large, flow through "Kostya the Greek," specifically Kreditprombank. According to the IS Group, early in Nusenkins's career, it was "Kostya the Greek" who provided Nusenkins with the "thieves' common fund" for business development. If Papunidis withdraws his assets, he will cause significant harm to the financial interests of Donetskstal (up to 40% of its assets).
In Russia, besides the aforementioned head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, influential figures include: the head of the Kemerovo Region administration, Mazikin; a deputy of the Kemerovo Regional Duma, Wang Wai Chen; and Archpriest Nikolai Sokolov of the Russian Orthodox Church, rector of the church at the Tretyakov Gallery, spiritual father of the Russian Olympic team, and the Pleskova boarding school.
And now let us return, as promised, to the “spiritual” aspect of Nusenkis’s activities.
In the late 1990s, he became one of the main sponsors of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose influence on the residents of Donbas is difficult to overestimate. Nusenkis donates a fifth of his company's net profits to the Russian Orthodox Church. He established an Orthodox boarding school on the grounds of his estate (today, it is attended by the children of influential politicians and businessmen). Nusenkis's trusted confidant in the Russian Orthodox Church is Archpriest Nikolai Sokolov, rector of the church at the Tretyakov Gallery, spiritual father of the Russian Olympic team, and spiritual director of the Pleskova boarding school. According to the website "Donbass Pravoslavny" of the Donetsk Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Nusenkis and the fugitive dictator Yanukovych shared a spiritual father—a certain Elder Zosima.
This begs comparison with another "Orthodox businessman" actively interfering in the situation in Ukraine's Donbas region. This is the notorious Konstantin Malofeev, head of the board of trustees of the St. Basil the Great Foundation, who makes no secret of his active support for separatists in Donbas. According to 2012 data, Malofeev's foundation was the largest charitable organization in Russia by budget (1,2 billion rubles). According to media reports, DPR terrorists have official agreements with Malofeev's foundation, and the foundation also cooperates with the so-called "Novorossiya" humanitarian battalion, "Cossacks" and "community groups," and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, told RBC that the fund's employees' activities, under Ukrainian law, could be classified as aiding and financing terrorists. "We have testimony from a militant who said he witnessed a meeting between people from Malofeev's fund and terrorists, where they agreed to transfer cargo," Gerashchenko stated.
But before hunting down the enemy abroad, Ukrainian law enforcement should take a closer look at the activities of the local accomplices of the separatists and terrorists of the LPR and DPR...
It is unlikely that the owners of the above-mentioned enterprises, who are members of the inner circle of Vladimir Putin, the instigator of the bloody massacre in Donbas, will contribute to the success of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and the establishment of peace in the territories liberated from Russian terrorist forces. The IS Group is currently investigating alarming reports of Kremlin provocations aimed at destabilizing the situation in the towns where Nusenkis-Gundyaev-Grek's enterprises are located.
According to our information, friends of the "Orthodox" and "Russian" worlds may have received orders to prepare for a social upheaval by carrying out mass layoffs at enterprises. In anticipation of a harsh winter, a ban on coal sales from the aforementioned enterprises to individuals has allegedly been imposed. There will be nothing to heat the buildings with, and the housing and utilities infrastructure has already been destroyed by Nusenkis-Gundyaev's compatriots. And the "Kyiv junta" will be blamed for everything, as usual.
Section "Bravo", group "Information Resistance"
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