It so happens that the rise of Viktor Yanukovych's political career is inextricably linked not only to the fantastic enrichment of the "Family" but also to the corporate raiding incursions of Russian criminal enterprises into Ukraine. Let's recall, for example, the brief Ukrainian tour of Maksym Kurochkin during the turbulent times of Viktor Yanukovych's first unsuccessful ascent to the presidential chair. Maksym's tragic fate taught them a certain caution: until 2010, taking advantage of the fact that the same old cadres held sway in the prosecutor's office and the courts during Viktor Yushchenko's presidency, Russian criminal enterprises in Ukraine, putting aside political corporate raiding, focused on expanding their business empires through economic raiding. Some of them entered Ukrainian politics during Yanukovych's presidency, but the most cautious, knowing the restless nature of Ukrainians, preferred the dim light of back alleys, familiar to them from their gangster youth, where they could conveniently carry out their dirty deeds away from the flashes of cameras, to the Rada. And now, after the victory of the Maidan, the election of a new president, after the adoption of laws restoring trust in the judicial system, lustration, anti-corruption legislation, and anti-offshore legislation, they continue to manipulate Ukraine's law enforcement and judicial systems from the shadows, continuing to shamelessly rob our country.
Igor Bobnev
Meet Russian citizen and Austrian prisoner Igor Bobnev.
In fact, our story is about one such resident of the still waters, a citizen of the Russian Federation living in such a distant yet so close Austria: Igor Bobnev. Back in the late 1990s, Igor Bobnev decided to invest in the construction business in Ukraine. As anyone might recall, luxury housing and business centers were in short supply in Kyiv back then, and this investment promised to yield considerable profits. Even then, building a construction business in Kyiv was challenging—land allocations, project approvals—only the most reckless could break through these impenetrable bureaucratic walls. But Igor Bobnev is no slouch. Back in 1998, he proposed to Kyiv's chief architect, Sergei Babushkin, to start a joint construction business with him. The shares, naturally, would be 50/50. The architect's wife, Olga Solonevich, played an active role in the new joint business, as a result of which her and her husband's total share in the business was divided into two almost equal halves.
The first joint project of Sergei Babushkin, Olga Solonevich and Igor Bobnev is a club house at 11 Desyatinnaya Street.
Back then, such a project was destined for success. The partners began by constructing an elite residential building at 11 Desyatinny Lane. A club-style, luxury-designed apartment in the heart of Kyiv—the market is now overflowing with such offerings—but back then, apartments in the building sold like hotcakes, and at exorbitant prices. Riding the wave of initial success, the idea for an equally popular project emerged: an elite business center.
Business center on Dnieprovsky Descent, 1. The partners' favorite brainchild, and the main bone of contention.
And here, the partners were practically pioneers. Especially given the class of the project and the site they chose to build on. A more picturesque location in Kyiv would be hard to find. The Dnieper slopes, the view of Lavra, the Bridge of Kisses, linking the business center with the Park of Glory. A restaurant, a skating rink, a concert hall—Kyiv had never seen anything like it at the time.
Olga Solonevich and Sergei Babushkin
Olga Solonevich and Sergey Babushkin, back in 2005. A married couple and successful business partners.
Predators primarily target the sick and weak—that's precisely what their nose and instincts are tuned to. In 2009, Igor Bobnev sensed a long-awaited weakness in his partner and launched a multi-stage scam. The fact was that Sergey Babushkin and Olga Solonevich had decided to divorce. As a reminder, a quarter of the shares in Lira-2000, the company that owned the business center on Dniprovskyi Descent 1, belonged to the architect's wife. And with the divorce, the couple's combined stake was reduced to two, which no longer seemed so large. And then, just like at their first meeting, an interesting offer appeared… no, not a tempting snake, but the same Igor Bobnev. He always knew how to persuade. First, you have to scare your partner. Bobnev told Babushkin that ex-wives are terrifying in their anger after a divorce, and that Olga, using her considerable stake in the project, could cause such a fiery mess that everyone involved, even herself, would ultimately lose everything. After that, the partner needed to be motivated. So he proposed a plan to Sergei Babushkin to protect their joint business from an angry wife, and even make a nice profit. And then, when passions calmed down, everything could still be restored to normal! "Well, that's a good plan!" Sergei Babushkin hadn't yet realized at the time that it was a double-edged sword.
The Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise's findings regarding the postal notice of a shareholders' meeting are disappointing for the fraudster.
The partners decided to exclude Olga Solonevich from the shareholders' list, dividing her 24,3% stake in half until better times. "For an experienced swindler, it's a piece of cake." Andrey Romanovsky, who oversaw Bobnev's Ukrainian business, took on the scam. Only a general meeting of shareholders could decide to exclude her. In fact, there was no need to hold a meeting. Igor Bobnev and Andrey Romanovsky produced a forged postal notice to Olga Solonevich calling for a meeting, which, naturally, was never sent. "Later, the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise established that the notice had been forged. Olga Solonevich, naturally, did not attend any meeting (the meeting itself would have been fine!). The scammers, however, drew up another document—minutes of that same alleged meeting, at which the shareholders (identified, Igor Bobnev and Sergey Babushkin) supposedly sadly noted that Olga Solonevich had resigned from her duties as a co-founder, for which she should be stripped of her share. And, convinced that Olga refused to accept the role of silent victim the scammers had prepared for her, they generously offered her a severance payment of "as much as" 5 million hryvnia for a share valued, according to various estimates (by DTZ-Ukraine and Colliers International, as well as by the announced price of the center Bobnev himself had put up for sale) of $7,5 to $10 million. A telling sum. The scammers—Bobnev and Romanovsky—grew up during the Soviet era and, quite obviously, had been accustomed since childhood to the official Soviet exchange rate of 60 kopecks to the dollar. So, have fun, woman! Enjoy our rare generosity!
The very same minutes of the shareholders' "meeting"
It's no wonder Olga Solonevich refused to rejoice. She decided to go to court. With all the expert reports in hand and the law in her favor, she could have—or rather, she was 100% confident she could defend her rights in court. However, the Ukrainian courts issued decisions that opened the eyes of not only Olga Solonevich but even her hapless ex-husband, Sergei Babushkin. Despite all the expert reports and the law, the court awarded Igor Bobnev ownership of 62% of the company's shares. Moreover, during the court proceedings, Igor Bobnev himself received guarantees of impunity in exchange for accepting an offer that no businessman in Ukraine had dared to refuse since the beginning of 2010. And why should he refuse, if the stake at stake wasn't his share, but that of his longtime partner, Sergei Babushkin.
Cypriot offshore company Bradwin Trading Limited appears on the horizon
In 2012, Igor Bobnev held another "shareholder meeting." However, having already been caught out by an expert examination of a fake postal notice, Igor Bobnev decided against such a scheme and simply forged the signature of Sergey Babushkin on the meeting resolution. Naturally, Babushkin had never even heard of the meeting. And even if he had, he wouldn't have signed the resolution. The fact is, the meeting resolution increased the company's share capital, and Sergey Babushkin's stake in it now stood at only 24,73%, even less than what he owned before he and Bobnev split Olga Solonevich's stake in half. But that was only the beginning. First, Igor Bobnev immediately sold his 75,27% stake to Bradwin Trading Limited, a company registered in Cyprus, a haven for offshore investors seeking sunny weather. The sole owner of Bradwin Trading Limited is Linefield Trading Ltd, registered even sunnier and offshore – in the British Virgin Islands, and further down the endless chain of offshore companies of the “Family”.
If you think Sergei Babushkin was left the happy owner of even a 24,73% stake in the company, you're greatly underestimating the appetites of Igor Bobnev and his new owners. Upon learning of the signature he didn't sign, Sergei Babushkin, of course, immediately filed a fraud complaint with the prosecutor's office, but on the second day of the investigation, they called him back and informed him the case had been closed. In the final months of Yanukovych's rule, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office never stooped to official notices. Moreover, Sergei Babushkin himself was actively involved in this case. For what? Well, as you understand, any construction project is financed by a loan. And during the fraudulent redistribution of assets, Igor Bobnev arranged for Sergei Babushkin's share to be largely comprised of the loan obligations purchased by National Credit Bank. At the same time, one of the bank's minority shareholders, who had previously owned less than 1% of its capital, dramatically increased his stake to 16,05%. As you've probably already guessed, it was that same Igor Bobnev. And so, to secure the once-shared debts, the court, blind and deaf to Igor Bobnev's own fraudulent operations, seized all the property of his victim, Sergei Babushkin, at his request. A few more months, and Igor Bobnev and his bosses would have acquired 100% of the shares of Lira-2000. In fact, they were already celebrating their victory, feasting on the loot and raking in the last bits of trivial property—the apartment at 11 Desyatinnaya Street, the Belvedere restaurant, and even not disdaining to seize the stage equipment rented from third parties and installed in Crystal Hall. And looming ahead was the acquisition of Pravex Bank, in partnership with his new banking partner, Andrey Onistrat, which would elevate Igor Bobnev from the damp, gloomy basement where swindlers like himself reigned supreme, straight to the forefront of Ukrainian business. Igor Bobnev's new owners didn't skimp.
Decision of the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal dated January 22, 2014
And then, contrary to all political forecasters' predictions, new winds began to blow across the country. The first alarm bell for Igor Bobnev, in the very days when Grushevskyi's first bloodshed was shed, was the January 22, 2014, ruling of the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal invalidating the resolution of the general meeting of Lira-2000 LLC to exclude Solonevich from the company and to restore her property rights in full. Soon, the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv and the Shevchenko District Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv opened four criminal cases against him for fraud, document forgery, and illegal appropriation of property.
"Foreign investors" immediately came to the defense of their "Ukrainian partner." Just after the presidential elections in Ukraine, in June 2014, the "workforce" of the Cypriot offshore company Bradwin Trading Limited appealed to the newly elected President, pleading for Igor Bobnev's protection. And all would have been well, had this "workforce of the Cypriot company" not consisted of Igor Bobnev himself and his driver. Well, who would be there to sort things out? Meanwhile, National Credit Bank, which, as a reminder, belongs to Andriy Onistrat and Igor Bobnev (in the last few months, it has already increased its stake to 20,93%), began issuing multimillion-dollar loans to shell companies, guaranteed by Lira-2000. The scammers' calculations are simple. If Sergei Babushkin and Olga Solonevich do return their property, Igor Bobnev will immediately bankrupt the company through his bank, leaving the former spouses with a mountain of debts in the name of Igor Bobnev and his new accomplice, athlete-banker Andrei Onistrat, rather than their legally owned office building.
And then, after initially getting off to a brisk start, the investigators and prosecutors quickly lost interest in the case. What kind of investigation is this, after all, when investigators repeatedly questioned the victims, but the accused, Igor Bobnev, never once appeared for questioning by the investigative authorities! And then, all four criminal cases, just like during the Yanukovych years, were quietly closed without any explanation. Despite the decision of the Commercial Court of Appeal, despite the criminal cases, the fraudsters continue to freely dispose of the property they illegally seized, pocketing 100% of the profits.
This rather typical example makes it clear that little has changed in the courts and prosecutor's office, and the same dirty schemes are perpetrated by the same people as under the "Family," vigilantly monitoring the financial flow that flows out of the country through a network of offshore companies into the bottomless pockets of the country's former rulers, returning to our country as salvoes of Grad rockets and howitzers fired by Russian mercenaries. While volunteers feed and clothe Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian judges and prosecutors, under the control of the same Russian criminal enterprise, arm terrorists in eastern Ukraine.
Oleg Trotsenko, for "ORD"
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