NGO: 88 Ukrainian companies owned by Russian military industry-linked oligarchs not confiscated

At least 88 Ukrainian companies directly or indirectly owned by Russian oligarchs linked to the country’s military industry have not yet been confiscated, the Trap Aggressor project of the StateWatch think-tank reported on Aug. 10.

According to the report, Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, whose Sens Bank has been recently nationalized, continues to directly or indirectly hold shares in the mobile operator Kyivstar, bottled water producers Morshinska and Myrhorodska, and other companies.

Fridman, the founder of Russia’s Alfa Bank, is currently under international sanctions and was arrested in the U.K. in December 2022. He was released on bail on suspicion of fraud-related offenses.

Investigative reporters discovered in May that his company Alpha Insurance Firm insures the vehicles of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

The company is also reported to provide services to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s Main Office of Special Programs, which guards him. Another company Fridman co-owns, X5 Retail Group, also cooperates with the Russian military through the group’s grocery chains.

Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, the owner of the Ukrainian travel agency Tui, also owns the Russian Severstal company, which has supplied steel to Russian military-industrial plants, the analysts said.

Ivan Savvidi, a Greek Russian businessman who owns the trading company Atlantis-Pak Ukraine and the plastics manufacturer Pentopak, also funds an organization "Greeks in Russia" that has supplied generators and vehicles to Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk Oblast.

The research further identified Vahit Alekperov, Alisher Usmanov, Yuriy Kovalchuk, and others as Russian oligarchs who continue to hold assets in Ukrainian companies. This includes enterprises in energy, logistics, hospitality, industry, and other sectors, Trap Aggressor said.

The analysts reminded that Ukraine has already confiscated at least 23 companies of Russian oligarchs. Among them are Oleg Deripaska's enterprises, Mikhail Shelkov's factories, as well as the "Ocean Plaza" shopping center of the Rotenberg brothers.

Investigative Stories from Ukraine: Companies of Russian oligarch Fridman allegedly support Russian war effort in Ukraine

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The Kyiv IndependentAnna Myroniuk