The new additions to the list of US sanctions against Russia have a Cypriot color.
Last Thursday (24/03) the OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Controls) service, which is accountable only to the US Treasury Department and President Joe Biden, announced the new names of companies and individuals included in the long list of exclusions. These are individuals and business entities allegedly linked to the Russian government and consequently the military invasion of Ukraine.
Among them are two holders of Cypriot citizenship. The story of Mikhail KLYUKIN and Ilya BRODSKIY. In fact, the list also records the numbers of their Cypriot passports which they acquired thanks to the investment programs offered by the Republic of Cyprus in the previous years.
Both are closely linked (especially the former) to the Open Joint Stock Company Sovcombank, which in turn has ties to the Russian government and is said to have played an important role in supporting the “bear” economy./p>
However, neither of them is mentioned in the report of the “Investigative Committee of the Exceptional Naturalization of Foreign Investors and Entrepreneurs”.
This makes sense in a way, as there are some very interesting international publications about Klyukin. The role of the 44-year-old for the transfer of capital of the bank SOVCOMBANK OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY in Cyprus has been discussed especially in Russia, while his name is also found in the famous ama Panama Papers. Nevertheless, when his name came under the microscope of the Cypriot authorities, paradoxically, nothing wrong was found. Hence, the committee that was assigned by prosecutorial decree to examine the naturalizations from 2007 until August 2020 did not work either.
Below are detailed data on the cases of Mikhail Klyukin and Ilya Brodsky, as well as the bank with which they are related, the Cyprus-related SOVCOMBANK OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY (OJSC):
Document presenting audit findings made at SOVCOMBANK. Clear report on the Cypriot company QUERSKO.
The Cypriot company QUERSKO LTD and Apollonia
Mikhail Vasilyevich (KLYUKIN, Mikhail Vasilyevich): According to the US Treasury Department, OFAC, Mikhail Klyukin, born on 22/09/1977, holds a Russian and Cypriot passport (K00299010). As for the reasons included in the list of sanctions, it is noted that it is affiliated with SOVCOMBANK OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY. Although the United States has linked him to the Putin government through the SOVCOMBANK bank, the Russian Federation has put him under the microscope in the past. Reports in Russia at the end of 2018 reported that after a tax audit at Sovcombank and its officials, it emerged through documents that the bank's funds were transferred from Russia to Cyprus. As part of the federal investigation into the transfer of these funds to our island, Vassily Klyukin, Michael's brother and a founding member of SOVCOMBANK, was presented as the person in charge. At the same time, Vassili allegedly transferred his share in the bank to Mikael's “Cypriot” brother. The same reports state that funds were transferred to shell companies in Cyprus. We are talking about a case in which an amount of 500,000 euros was transferred to a registered company in Cyprus, QUERSKO LTD. The latter was registered with the Registrar of Companies in July 2010, the money transfer from Russia took place in December of the same year, while the company was deleted in January 2016.
The other interesting thing about Klyukin is that his name is on the Panama Papers. ICIJ, an international network of investigative journalists, has linked him to Apollonia Holdings Ltd. He was presented as the holder of shares of the said business entity from 05/03/2013. In fact, through the data revealed by the investigative-journalists, there is no doubt that this is the Cypriot Mikhail Klyukin, as his address as they present it (1st Krasnoarmeyskiy per. 4 flat 187, Mytishi, Moscow), is the same as the one he published last Thursday the US Treasury Department. Simply put, there is no doubt that Mikhail Klyukin, with his curious activities, is the holder of a Cypriot passport who never occupied the committee set up to investigate the exceptional naturalizations.
Remember that the “Panama Papers” have been described as the biggest leak in the history of global corruption. The 11 million documents were held by Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, with branches in Hong Kong, Miami, Zurich and 35 other locations around the world. The list of companies and individuals involved was published in the spring of 2016 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ICIJ, of the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Mossack Fonseca specializes in creating virtual companies that can be used to conceal ownership of assets. Its customers were more than 500 banks and their subsidiaries, which have worked with the company since 1970 to help their customers manage their offshore companies.
The 44-year-old has been a member of the board of directors of SovComBank since 04/06/2016. It is the sole shareholder of Benacom Enterprise Corp., which in turn is a shareholder (13.27%) of SovCo Capital Partners BV. He graduated from the Academy of Economics of the Russian Federation in 1999. Since 21/08/2008 he has been the General Manager of Severo-Zapad LLC. He is the brother of Vasily Klyukin who became the strongman of Sovcombank in 2003.
The international network of investigative journalists ICIJ that revealed the Panama Papers, with a blueprint shows the relationship of Michael Klyukin with the shell company Apollonia Holdings Ltd.
< b> Major shareholder through… Cyprus
• Ilya Borisovich (BRODSKIY, Ilya Borisovich): He is an official in the US-punished SOVCOMBANK, where he also served as chairman of the board. Apart from being a Cypriot citizen, Ilia Brotski also owns corporate ties on our island. It is indicative that at some point the main shareholder of SOVCOMBANK was the Cyprus-registered REG Holding Limited. Brocki, therefore, had a respectable share in the Cypriot REG Holding Limited, since he had 10.06% of its shares. REG Holding Limited was registered with the Cyprus Registrar of Companies in July 2003, while it was dissolved due to its voluntary liquidation on 12/18/2018. The 49-year-old seems to know well the banking… game, as we found him participating administratively in a board number. financial institutions. Our compatriot, born in Moscow in 1972, graduated in 1994 from the State Academy of Management. In 1992 he had completed some specialized courses at the Academy of Economics. She has worked as an official in various banks.
US links it to Cyprus
• Sovcombank: The US Treasury Department justifies why it was placed on the sanctions list for the Russian invasion. According to his analysis, Sovcombank is the third largest private institution in Russia in terms of assets. At the same time, it is the 9th largest bank in Russia. It is recognized as systemically important for the Russian financial institution and plays an important role in the economy of the Russian Federation. 22 Sovcombank subsidiaries are affiliated with or controlled by it. These 22 subsidiaries are financial services companies in Russia and Cyprus. 50% or more of their shares are controlled by Sovcombank.
The officials of REG Holding Limited, as presented to the Cyprus Registrar of Companies. Brocki appears among them. REG Holding Limited was the major shareholder of SOVCOMBANK, which was punished by the West.
The new US sanctions announced on 24/03
At the heart of the new US sanctions are Putin's close friends, Gennady Timchenko, his companies and family members.
“To ensure that Russia pays a serious economic and diplomatic price for its invasion of Ukraine.”
The new names on the list:
• Dmitry Vladimirovich Gusev, Mikhail Lvovich Kuchment, Anatoly Alexandrovich Bravverman, Ilya Borisovich Brodskiy, Aleksey Leonidovich Fisun, Dmitry Vladimirovich Khotimskiy, Sergey Vladimirovich Khotimskiy, Mikhail Vasilyevich Klyukin, Alexandrov Borlegkov, Mikhal Sergey Nikolaevich Bondarovich, Oleg Alexandrovich Mashtalyar, Alexey Valeryevich Panferov, Irina Nikoalyevna Kashina, and Joel Raymon Lautier.
All of these individuals are identified as former or current directors, officers, senior executives or board members of Sovcombank.
• Volga Group
The Volga Group financial services.
• Gennady Nikolayevich Tymchenko
Tymchenko is identified as the head, official, senior executive or board member of the Volga Group
Transoil
Transoil is considered to be owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Timchenko.
, Officer, Senior Executive or Member of the Board of Transoil. • Elena Petrovna Timchenko and Natalia Browning
Elena Petrovna Timchenko and Natalia Browning have been identified as Timchenko's wife or adult child
• The yacht Lena
