Sergey Lagur: Who will inherit the Continuum treasures? Part 1
The deeper the Ukrainian economy sinks, the more fierce and inventive the oligarchs' struggle for the remaining resources and cash flows becomes. Now, it's even between competing factions at the very top of the power pyramid: not long ago, they stood side by side on the Maidan, and now they're trying to push each other out of business. And behind their backs, partners who have been developing a joint business for years are settling scores.
Recently, an oligarch was attacked again. Nikolai Martynenko, who has been hit with more surprise inspections, accusations, lawsuits, and criminal cases over the past two years than he had ever seen in the previous twenty years of peaceful life in Ukraine under Kuchma, Yushchenko, and Yanukovych. Now, the court has frozen Martynenko's share capital in three of his companies, including Vortex LLC. This incident is being commented on in light of the ongoing "cold war" between the oligarchs of the presidential "family" and the oligarchs from the entourage of former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, which includes Martynenko.
But will it affect other co-owners of Vortex and Martynyuk's associates? Among them, journalists named former co-owner of WOG Petr Dyminsky, the heirs of Continuum Group co-owner Igor Eremeev, and the mysterious Lanna Lagur (as the media called her), who was immediately listed as a possible relative of Sergei Lagur, another co-owner of Continuum. It would seem that this question can already be answered affirmatively, since the name of this company and its co-owners has been linked too often recently to various corruption scandals. For example, as it has become known Skelet.OrgThe capital's prosecutor's office is investigating the activities of Vog Aerojet LLC (a Continuum group company) and the directly associated Bank for Investments and Savings, which is owned by former Continuum managers. The investigation concerns possible fraud involving colossal sums related to tender agreements between Vog Aerojet and Ukrzaliznytsia, as well as the illegal transfer of foreign currency abroad. However, there are serious doubts that this case, like many others, will even reach trial. After all, Sergei Lagur and his associates have extricated themselves from far more serious situations.
Sergey Lagur. The Man from Nowhere
Sergey Nikolaevich Lagur was born on October 15, 1962, in Kyiv. He had two apartments registered to him in the capital: one in a nondescript Soviet-era nine-story brick tower block at Novgorodskaya-1, and the other in a slightly newer ten-story panel building at Tatarskaya-38. Apparently, he may have spent his childhood in the first apartment, while he may have received the second apartment during the Ukrainian SSR or purchased it in the early 90s (it's unlikely that such a home would have interested him later, when he became a millionaire). Interestingly, this database of Ukrainian residents contains no information about his parents. Lagur's meager biography also reveals that he is single. Could one of Ukraine's richest men really be a lonely orphan? Well, unless you count his supposed family ties to the mysterious "Lanna" Lagur.
It's worth clarifying here: our journalist colleagues made an inaccuracy, which they then spread through various publications: in fact, "Lanna" is called Liana, and she is a co-owner not only of Vortex but also of the construction company RIEL. Another owner and director of RIEL is Rostislav Melnik, who, in turn, along with his wife, Oksana Melnik, is a co-owner of BIS Bank (they each hold 9,63% of the shares). Among BIS Bank's other owners, we see Sergei Lagur (17,5%) and his partners in the Continuum Group. Stepan Ivakhiv (17,5%) and Peter Dyminsky (5,67%). So Liana Lagur and Sergey Lagur are connected not only by their last name, but their relationship remains an intriguing mystery...
Well, Serhiy Lagur never told anyone where he studied, whether he graduated from any university, what he did in the 80s, or what he did in the 90s. He also had no childhood or youthful friends who could share details of his life. He is another very secretive and private Ukrainian oligarch with a deeply murky past—one that stands out among his business partners: the late Igor Yeremeyev, the still-living Stepan Ivakhiv, and Petro Dyminsky, who left them at the right time. This has given rise to conflicting rumors about who Serhiy Lagur is and how he entered Yeremeyev and Ivakhiv's business. For example, some sources Skelet.Org It's claimed that in the 90s, Sergei Lagur was a member of a Kyiv organized crime group and later began investing the gang's fortune in the oil business. Other sources claim he came from law enforcement or the secret services, though they disagree on whether Lagur was a "werewolf in uniform" or an infiltrated mole. One thing is clear: in any of these scenarios, it's best to keep such a past under wraps.
However, for now, these are just unconfirmed rumors. But they cast a new light on Lagur's favorite hobby—tennis. He's been playing it since at least the 90s, sponsoring tennis clubs and championships, and later heading the Ukrainian Tennis Federation.
A rather unusual sport for the "brothers," who prefer boxing and wrestling. However, tennis is the signature sport of Soviet diplomats and the KGB: Lavrentiy Beria was the first to embrace it, introducing the entire Lubyanka to the sport. And in the 90s, tennis was practically the most important sport in Russia, as it was a favorite pastime among the Kremlin leadership of the time. Therefore, some doubts arise: is it a coincidence that the oligarch Lagur, who appeared literally out of nowhere in the late 90s, with a completely purged biography, is a tennis fan?
Presidents of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation Andrey Medvedev and Sergey Lagur
One of the first surviving media mentions of him dates back to November 2001, where Serhiy Lagur is listed as a member of the supervisory board of the Galichina Oil Refinery (Drohobych Oil Refinery) and the director of Ukroptservis LLC. This company is known to have existed since at least 1993, and in the 90s, the future Minister of Ecology of Ukraine worked there. Nikolay Zlochevsky and future oligarch Boris Belikov (now the owner and head of Ovostar Union). A little later, the head of Nadra Bank, Igor Gilenko (who fled Ukraine in 2008), briefly told journalists the following about one of the main shareholders:
Sergey Lagur: Who will inherit the treasures of Continuum?
Apparently, Serhiy Lagur was involved in metal and coal in the 1990s, as he shifted his focus to oil and petroleum products in the 2000s. In fact, the team of Yeremeyev-Ivakhiv and Lagur-Dyminskyi partners formed around the Drohobych Galichina Oil Refinery, whose first production facilities were built during the reign of the "Good Emperor" Ferdinand.
This happened in 2000-2001, when the second block of shares in Galichina was put up for privatization, and as a result of cunning manipulation, 42% ended up under the control of Petro Dyminskyi, the owner of Nadezhda LLC and Evropa-II. Dyminskyi boasted at the time of his extensive connections in the Lviv regional and city administrations, as well as his friendship with a member of parliament. Igor Nasalik (current Minister of Energy of Ukraine) and Mykola Katerenchuk, with whom he had close business ties. As early as 2002, when tax audits began at Galichina, Dyminskyi hid these shares in his Kyiv companies, Ukrprommettorg LLC and Ukrsim LLC, and enlisted the help of Nasalik and Katerenchuk. When Katerenchuk became deputy chairman of the State National Research University in 2005, any tax audits against Dyminskyi's companies naturally ceased.
Peter Dyminsky
During the second privatization of Galichina, Dyminsky brought in Yeremeyev and Ivakhiv's Continuum group of companies, which formed the Western Oil Group (West Oil Group, or WOG) joint venture. Their businesses merged in a complex manner, resulting in Sergey Lagur becoming a co-owner of Continuum, forming the Lagur-Ivakhiv-Yeremeyev triumvirate. Dyminsky, along with this trio, became a co-founder and co-owner of the newly established WOG gas station chain, which began with 14 stations owned by Ivakhiv and Yeremeyev and now owns approximately 500 gas stations and 32 oil depots.
The subsequent raid on the Galichina refinery by tax and law enforcement agencies was no accident. It wasn't just the elaborate schemes created by Dyminsky, Yeremeyev, and Lagur, according to which wholesale flows of petroleum products were routed through some Continuum Group subsidiaries, retail sales were made through others, and the resulting profits were channeled into the shadows through still others. According to available information, Skelet.Org According to information, the oldest oil refinery in Ukraine (and perhaps even in all of Europe), whose output barely met even Soviet GOST standards, was used by Continuum for more than just its intended purpose. It was used for oil re-export schemes, converting imported gasoline into domestically produced gasoline (bypassing duties), and for engaging in fascinating financial scams, including those involving bank loans.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Sergey Lagur: Who will inherit the Continuum treasures? Part 2
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