Lithuania is freezing millions associated with Putin’s inner circle
Lithuania on Wednesday froze the bank accounts of a company linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s immediate circle, effectively blocking the company’s $ 2.9 million. EUR (3.19 million). The move came after OCCRP’s Lithuanian partner Siena revealed UAB PhosAgro Baltic’s relationship with the Kremlin.
PhosAgro Baltic is the main indirect subsidiary of the Russian fertilizer manufacturer PhosAgro. The PhosAgro regime was formerly owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian oligarch imprisoned by Moscow in the first years of Putin’s rule.
While Khodorkovsky was in prison, his fertilizer business was taken over by his former assistant Andrei Guriev, who soon became a billionaire.
However, in 2011 Vladimir Litvinenka, head of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, with the company’s relationship with the regime took over 5% stake, despite the fact that the known assets covering this type of investment. Litvinenka vaguely explained that he had consulted.
The Litvinenko Mining Institute has many well-known graduates, including Putin, who in 1997 there, under the leadership of Litvinenko, he obtained a doctorate. Putin’s doctoral work could have been stolen, according to Washington Post.
Litvinenko’s stake in PhosAgro has been growing steadily. According to recent reports, he now owns more than 20% of the company and, like the Gurjev family, is Forbes list One of the billionaires in the world.
Litvinenko has not been sanctioned yet, but PhosAgro was hit on March 9 when the European Union appointed Andrei Gurjev Jr., the son of Khodorkovsky’s former business partner and head of PhosAgro.
A few hours before the announcement of the decision, Siena journalists visited the PhosAgro Baltic office in Vilnius, trying to talk to Vladimir Kolisnikov, the CEO of PhosAgro in Lithuania.
“I don’t have time,” Kolesnikov said, closing the door. PhosAgro Baltic has never responded to an email request for comment.
Founded at the end of 2018, PhosAgro Baltic started distributing Russian fertilizers in the Baltic region. with four to five workerscompany mentioned In 2020 and 2020, sales amounted to € 146 million (US $ 160 million19).
Sienna’s story was about PhosAgro Baltic’s relationship with the Kremlin published last thursday. On that day, Andrei Guryev, Jr., resigned as CEO of PhosAgro, and PhosAgro Baltic lost his accounts.
“We have been informed that the financial institution has restricted PhosAgro Baltic’s access to its accounts and has frozen funds in excess of 2.9 million. said Modesta Ždanauskaitė, a spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Financial Crime Investigation Service. Tell me Sienna in a written comment.
At that time, it was the largest amount of money belonging to the entity, which was frozen in Lithuania during the implementation of EU sanctions on Russia. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian authorities froze the accounts of two sanctioned companies.
The accounts of Lifosa, a large fertilizer company recently owned by the recently sanctioned oligarch Andrei Melnichenko, were frozen shortly after Melnichenko was added to the sanctions list.
The accounts of the Russian energy giant Inter Rao’s indirect subsidiary Inter Rao Lietuva were frozen due to the company’s relationship with Igor Sechin. Sechin, who is considered one of Putin’s closest allies, heads the board of Inter Rao directors.
According to the Lithuanian authorities, the funds frozen in connection with the implementation of the latest sanctions related to the war in Ukraine currently amount to more than seven million. The amount is likely to increase in the near future.