Igor Kolomoisky
Ukrainian media have discovered that Igor Kolomoisky is doing business with Russian businessman Andrei Khovanov, who is on the federal wanted list.
Ukrainian media have raised the issue of relations between local oligarchs and Russian business representatives. According to Izvestia Kyiv, half of Ukrainian defense industry exports still go north, and 11% of foreign food sales go there as well. "Pipes, railcars, castings—whether we like it or not, Russia remains a traditional market for these goods," the article's author writes. "Every tenth largest company on the Forbes 200 list in the country is owned by Russians. And in the border region, business continues, conducted by security officials from both countries, out of old friendship. However, back in the spring, Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko (Read more about it in the article Pavel Petrenko, the "pocket" boy of the Yatsenyuk "Family") promised to compensate for losses from the annexation of Crimea using Russian assets in Ukraine. However, it appears that this will be done not by the state, but by Kolomoisky's people," the publication reports.
According to the newspaper, Igor Valerievich's team also includes Russians.
Which, in his opinion, already raises questions, especially given their past. For example, since 2004, a certain Russian citizen, Andrei Khovanov, has been hanging around Kolomoisky.
"This character once became embroiled in major scandals surrounding the construction of the Moscow-City complex in the early 2000s," Kyiv journalists write. "Together with Yugoslav Sava Kujundzic, Khovanov developed schemes that siphoned off 3,7 billion rubles, and then several billion more, abroad. He received budget funds for construction projects, but built nothing, instead embezzling the funds through front companies. Their names included TM, City-Energo CJSC, Aqua-City Palace CJSC, and LIARD STROY LLC. He was assisted in this by corrupt Russian officials and state-owned bank employees. How could this gentleman, for example, have received 750 million (!) rubles for the roof project (!) for a water park without their support?" the publication asks.
When Khovanov was cornered in his homeland and faced criminal charges, he fled to Ukraine. From December 2004 to February 2007, he lived peacefully in our country, pursuing his projects in the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions. He was particularly interested in defense-related plants—Yuzhmash and the Kharkiv Malyshev Metallurgical Plant. It was not possible to determine whose interests Andrey Khovanov was pursuing in his attempts to gain control of these enterprises. Formally, he was working "with Ukrainian partners," whose names he preferred not to disclose during negotiations, vaguely hinting that they had significant business interests in the aforementioned regions.
There's no doubt that Khovanov already had a high-ranking patron in Ukraine. During these years, he moved freely around the country, despite being wanted in his home country. Khovanov arrived in Ukraine from Russia via a circuitous route, through Croatia and Switzerland. Arriving in Kyiv under a false passport, he launched into a flurry of activity, and not just for his own projects. This man widely offered services to promote the interests of Ukrainian companies in Russia. It was then, according to our information, that he became involved in Kolomoisky's projects.
True, Khovanov's "Russian" lobbying always had a peculiar flavor. He was, first and foremost, mindful of his own interests. Thus, with the support of influential friends, on March 12, 2005, Khovanov managed to secure a ruling in a Ukrainian commercial court that essentially legitimized an attempt to embezzle 39 million euros from the Moscow-based company VILS. The institute allegedly owed the money to the American company Goodcraft LLC. This ruling was part of a corporate raiding scheme Khovanov had repeatedly tried in his home country. It was recently revealed that the judges' decision was influenced by the leadership of the Privat Group and the councils of representatives of the United Jewish Community.
What attracted Khovanov to Kolomoisky's team? Probably his overwhelming ability to concoct the most improbable schemes to seize other people's businesses. According to available information, their connection continued even in 2008-2011, when Khovanov, who had come to Moscow on business, was finally caught during a meeting with "respected businessmen" and sent to a remote location.
For the past three years, this gentleman has been actively shuttling between Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and, occasionally, Moscow. He is wanted in Russia, so his Ukrainian "senior comrades" provided him with a Ukrainian ID. According to Ukrainian business representatives, Khovanov greatly assisted the Dnipropetrovsk governor in profitably disposing of his Russian assets and in implementing his various unfinished business schemes. The war in the southeast and Russia's involvement in it have not slowed this man down.
It's possible his name will soon surface in Kolomoisky's projects involving the Odesa port and refinery, as well as the Kherson oil transshipment facility and the Yuzhny port. Recently, Ukrainian and Russian media have reported that Russia's Togliattiazot and Uralchem will compete for the Odesa Port Plant, whose assets have already been prepared. The latter, allegedly in tandem with Kolomoisky, is involved. This was a hoax—in reality, Mr. Khovanov will be directly "operating" the Odesa Port Plant for Privat.
"However, those involved in this scheme need to be on guard and remember that 'they stink in their own way.' And always. Especially if your partner is a fugitive and convicted Russian schemer," Izvestia Kyiva concludes.
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