Every day the battle for Pokrovsk is becoming an increasingly dramatic and bloody episode of the war. According to reports from the Ukrainian Forces General Staff, the Russian occupants make up to 50 attempts per day to break through our defense in the Pokrovsk area.
But few people know that the Russian authorities have a vested and money-minded reason to attack exactly Pokrovsk. The occupation of Pokrovsk has a specific beneficiary - Russian oligarch Dmitry Nikolaev, who dreams of taking over Ukraine's largest coking coal mining center.
His company “Stroyservice” JSC was placed on the US sanctions lists, but this does not prevent Nikolaev from developing his business, and that globally. We have in our possession documents showing that both banks from some Gulf countries and lawyers from the European Union willingly continue to provide their services to the sponsor of the offensive on Pokrovsk.
A game of hide and seek amid sanctions
In August 2024, the US Treasury Department's website published the next set of sanctions against legal entities and individuals who support the Russian Federation's invasion in Ukraine and actually sponsor this war. We regularly follow the update of the sanctions lists and collect detailed information regarding the most interesting companies and characters. We believe that this will help the competent authorities to fight more effectively not only the external but also the internal enemy of Ukraine - corruption and traitors.
This time the object of our investigation is Russian oligarch Nikolaev Dmitry Nikolaevich - sole owner of JSC “Stroyservice”, included in the sanctions list of OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) dated August 23, 2024 together with an affiliated Cypriot company Stroyservice Trading Limited (HE254132). Also on the website of the Russian corporate registry there is a warning that “Stroyservice” JSC is under US sanctions, so it is risky to contact this company in any format of relations.
Dmitry Nikolayev, who is in Forbes' list of richest world billionaires with a fortune of 1.8 billion dollars, is interesting not only because he “feeds” Russia's war of conquest with huge taxes. His sponsorship is a kind of “investment”, which in the civilized world is usually called marauding.
Nikolaev, who has interests in metallurgy, is actively capitalizing on Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises located in the so-called “DNR” and “LNR”. For the same reason, he is very interested in the town of Pokrovsk - the only center of coking coal production that remains under Ukrainian control. According to our information, in case Pokrovsk is seized by the Russian army (we hope this will not happen), Nikolaev's lawyers have already prepared the necessary documentation packages to transfer the Private Joint Stock Company «Pokrovskoye mine management» under his ownership.
However, as a businessman, Dmitry Nikolaev, who is basically sensible, understands perfectly well that Putin's bloody adventure will sooner or later end in failure, and it is not very sensible to put all the “golden eggs” in one dangerous “basket”. That is why he is trying to hide branches of his extensive business from Western sanctions.
Especially indicative in this regard was the recent update of the website of “Stroyservice” JSC, which happened shortly before the publication of the next OFAC list. If you look at the archives of the website, automatically created by the Wayback Machine service, you can see that as early as July 14, the website contained an impressive list of companies of the holding, namely:
Nevertheless, such a “hide-and-seek game” in the modern information world is an inefficient action. And the first thing we found was a document confirming Nikolaev's sole ownership of JCS "STROYSERVICE": it is an extract from the register of shareholders, which shows that the oligarch controls 88.89% of the company's shares directly, and the remaining 11.11% - through the company LLC JCS "STROYSERVICE".
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/V26FM27QRM#zibmySIQkVPP)
The data of the majority shareholder in this register coincide with the passport data of citizen Nikolayev D.N., as can be seen in the photo below:
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/KEZE7APFC0#VgG9Uj4yivqM)
However, the same register of Russian legal entities shows that Nikolaev is trying to hide many assets more reliably. To begin with, about 70 percent of the companies somehow connected with "Stroyservice" JSC are currently listed as liquidated or in the process of liquidation. Dmitry Nikolaev himself remained a nominal founder of the only active "Beltrans" LLC.
On 18.10.2024, he renamed other companies, such as “Central Processing Plant “Beryozovskaya” JSC (TIN 4203001617) - now it is “Tsentralnoye” JSC - and re-registered them to his trusted people. The founders of “Beryozovskaya” are now listed as Yurtov Egor Petrovich - commercial director of “Stroyservice“, as well as Andrey Skovpen, legal and property management director of “Stroyservice” JSC.
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/02P16C626M#8ALu5AL5Dtzb)
But, as is common in the case of big business, such attempts to hide assets are like the ostrich syndrome. By hiding the small “head” of his business empire in the sand, Nikolaev left his huge, sorry, ass unprotected and open to the world. And now, having studied the contents of this “sirloin part”, we found many more interesting things.
From Moscow to Dubai
It would be naive to believe that the assets of an oligarch active in foreign economic activity are concentrated only in Russia and the occupied territories.
At first, we tried to look for connections in China, which remains the Putin regime's main economic stronghold in the world. But the smart Chinese are increasingly cautious about ties with Russian business, and they are not the only ones. Even Kazakhstan is increasingly tightening its sanctions screws, especially when it comes to making payments in the interests of its belligerent neighbor.
Nevertheless, we managed to find two firms controlled by Nikolaev in China, or rather, in the economically freer Hong Kong. But the main “gates” for entering the global market are now located in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. And in Bahrain the oligarch tries to hide mainly his personal, family finances, while Abu Dhabi and Dubai have become convenient harbors for export operations of the under-sanctioned “Stroyservice”. These conclusions are confirmed by specific documents.
Thus, in the Emirates, according to our information, Dmitry Nikolaev fully controls the company DVTC TRADING L.L.C-FZ, a copy of its license is presented below.
(illustration https://drive.proton.me/urls/V341V0RQNG#PbGts77BfT3Y)
The manager of this company is a Cypriot citizen Andreas Zambas, a lawyer of Dmitry Nikolaev. This person officially works in the Cypriot structure of “Stroyservice” - the aforementioned Stroyservice Trading Limited, which is also on the US sanctions list. It is noteworthy that this company is registered at a long-known address of mass registrations of firms associated with Russia: Floor 2, Flat 204, 25 Afroditis, 1060 Nicosia. At least five firms registered at the same address are mentioned in the famous “Panama archive”.
We managed to obtain copies of both Andreas Zambas' passport and Dmitry Nikolaev's own residence permit (resident ID card) in Dubai. The scans of these documents are published below, and one significant detail should be noted. Nikolaev's ID-card, which gives him the right to legally reside in the UAE, states that he is an employee of DVTC TRADING L.L.C-FZ. In fact, it is simply a company owned by Nikolaev, with a Cypriot lawyer as its nominal director.
(illustrations: https://drive.proton.me/urls/G373RRZRRG#9dJmNkSbVFfo
https://drive.proton.me/urls/DFDD92ATX0#EWAxX6Robcvp
https://drive.proton.me/urls/X4WNZJA9K4#oc2vk4VcAEX8 )
Another company, which is also owned by Dmitry Nikolaev and is used by him, highly likely, to withdraw money out of Russia and minimize taxes, is called Vitelia Trade Limited. It is registered in Hong Kong, and the copy of the certificate of ownership below shows that Nikolaev is the sole owner of this company.
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/WTWWBV2234#XchmMwrE0vM2 )
Also Vittolia Сompany Limited (company No. 3144395) is registered there, in Hong Kong, a company managed by the son of a Russian oligarch Igor Nikolaev (pictured on the right) and several other seconded employees of “Stroyservice”.
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/DSYNYT4PXC#7T5rpVIba2Iv )
According to the Dun& Bradstreet registry, the director is Andrei Belkov. A person with the same first and last name is listed as the author of a scientific article on the website of the Russian “Lenin” library, and his position is also indicated there: head of the sales department of CJCS “Stroyservice”.
As we found out, he is the deputy of the aforementioned Yurtov and the employee closest to Nikolaev himself; he is located in the oligarch’s Dubai office, teaching Nikolaev Jr. to work. Other employees of “Stroyservice” also work in the same Vittolia Сompany Limited: Denis Davydov, Mikhail Rodin, Vladimir Morozov. It is also interesting that the company created its profile on the HeadHunter platform to search for employees in the UAE. The website of this company also unexpectedly went down immediately after the imposition of sanctions, but the surviving copies in the web archives indicate that Vittolia Сompany Limited imports coking coal from Russia. Including coal stolen from the Ukrainian subsoil, exported from the occupied territories. It is no coincidence that in the list of Black Sea ports from which Vittolia offers its customers to ship coal, the first places are “Port of Taganrog, Port Kavkaz, Port of Taman” - those closest to the Donbass, to the captured mines.
It’s simply amazing how, given such obvious, direct connections, sanctions against Dmitry Nikolaev were limited to just two companies? In addition to the DVTC, Vitelia, Vittolia listed above, we found several more, for which we also began collecting documents. These are, in particular, such companies as:
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/CMG3KPEPGM#4t0IyaU0kqy1 )
The following document is an invoice from the Dubai company Tramada DMCC, issued as an option for the purchase of coal from the Dubai company Monolink Group-FZCO, controlled, as we believe, by Nikolaev:
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/1ZZB48F40M#inO0nh4xumU7 )
It is strange that experts from the US Treasury have not yet paid attention to them. Or do they not have enough evidence yet? So let them contact us, we’d be happy to help!
“Tentacles” stretch to Ukraine
Meanwhile, sanctions are becoming increasingly difficult to circumvent, and Nikolaev is coming up with new ways. Literally a month before appearing on the OFAC list, on September 19, 2024, he registered the company “AVK-Expedition” under his current employee Alexander Viktorovich Kochukov (TIN 9705231589). At the “Stroyservice” company, this newly-emerged businessman holds the modest position of deputy commercial director for logistics.
We also had at our disposal a whole series of agreements indicating that after the imposition of sanctions, “Stroyservice” JSC began to actively sell its products through the company “NORD TRADE” LLC, TIN 7000002988. We have not yet found direct evidence of Nikolaev’s participation in this company, but what is noteworthy is that immediately after the imposition of sanctions, almost all companies previously designated as “subsidiaries” on the website of “Stroyservice” JSC entered into agreements with this new intermediary. Here are the numbers of some agreements:
№ 2583730 from 27.08.2024 with “Barzasskoye partnership” LLC JV,
№ 2583604 from 27.08.2024 with “Coalmine №12” LLC,
№ 2644520 from 30.09.2024 with “Stroyservice” JSC.
“NORD TRADE” LLC concluded similar contracts with the offshore companies listed above, which, as we assume, are also controlled by Nikolaev.
However, what is especially interesting is that some citizens of Ukraine may also be Nikolaev’s allies in this marauding business.
While studying companies affiliated with the oligarch, we noticed that the founders of one of them, “BREVI MANU” LLC (TIN 7713298978), includes the Cyprus holding GRAINFUL HOLDING LTD. Our colleagues from the SokalINFO publication suggested a year ago that the odious Ukrainian businessman Pavel Fuks could be hiding behind this offshore company. And so, as it turned out, along with Dmitry Nikolaev, Mr. Fuks has his own interest in a company in the Russian Federation. Miracles, and that’s all!
In addition, Dmitry Nikolaev’s secret lobby in Ukraine can also be carried out through his Cypriot lawyer Andreas Zambas. Not long ago, we witnessed a major scandal in which the head of Dragon Capital, Tomas Fiala, became involved after President Vladimir Zelensky added his adviser, also a Cypriot lawyer, Andreas Sofocleous, to the sanctions list. We carefully studied the biography of this character, and discovered that right up to the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he actively collaborated... with Russian metallurgists and the mining industry! Thus, its data is contained in the annual reports of the “Polymetal” group of companies, which conducts subsoil development in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. That is, figuratively speaking, the lawyers of Nikolaev and Fiala are Cypriots of “Russian origin”.
Are there no sanctions for a beautiful life?
In addition to documents related to Nikolaev’s business, we received many interesting papers indicating his private lifestyle, status and habits.
In particular, Dmitry Nikolaev prefers to travel around Russia, as well as fly to Kazakhstan, Bahrain and the UAE, on luxury business jets. On average, for one flight within Russia alone, he pays 8-9 million rubles (90 thousand dollars at the current exchange rate). Here are examples of contracts for private air transportation concluded in the interests of passenger D.N. Nikolaev.
(illustrations:
https://drive.proton.me/urls/Z541ZQZ5CR#3xDTGWw6JT0b
https://drive.proton.me/urls/B27Q8Y38TG#amHOU5fSvLMC
https://drive.proton.me/urls/BP981PG9DG#t0pYqRg8SQWt
https://drive.proton.me/urls/AF074T1MAR#JJ4HQ8BqRhtB )
According to our information, Dmitry Nikolaev orders private jets at least 4-5 times a month, spending more than $400,000 on it.
As for other expenses, Nikolaev is no different from other Russian oligarchs who earn money in their homeland, but prefer to store and spend it abroad, in case Putin will lose. As we have already noted, he prefers to live in the rich, hot countries of the Persian Gulf and, despite the sanctions, does not deny himself anything there. Moreover, banks in Bahrain and Dubai serve him as a VIP client, without asking unnecessary questions about the origin of the funds.
As we found out, Nikolaev personally and his companies have opened many accounts in such large and respected banks of the Persian Gulf countries as EMIRATES NBD BANK PJSC, HDFC BANK, Banque Misr – Gulf Branches. And even after the introduction of US sanctions against “Stroyservice”, these banks did not stop servicing the capital of the Russian oligarch: his accounts in the Emirate of Dubai and the Kingdom of Bahrain were still working as before. Has corruption really penetrated into such apparently prosperous countries?..
For example, on January 18, 2023, the amount of $24,807,101 was transferred to the account of his wife Tatyana Nikolaeva at HDFC Bank (Bahrain). And this is only one documented translation! As you understand, the stakes on Putin are not great, since tens, and most likely hundreds of millions are kept outside the Russian Federation.
(illustration: https://drive.proton.me/urls/S7XF1YPJTC#dQwkmmloGBuq )
And here are three more transfers from Nikolaev to his personal private banking account at Emirates NBD Bank (Dubai) - for 3, 5 and 8 million dollars. We also post a few more examples of foreign accounts of Nikolaev that we were able to obtain.
(illustrations: https://drive.proton.me/urls/ZDQPCNXNGM#lx15LIE3c4Sl
https://drive.proton.me/urls/03VPCZ0TS8#QjkJ1O7FJaqX
https://drive.proton.me/urls/Z72CJ6Z5QR#8rnafxWCxEne )
It is clear that only a select few are allowed to regularly withdraw such amounts from the Russian economy. Over the course of two and a half years, around the war of conquest unleashed by Putin, a whole “team” of professional huge marauders was formed - such as Dmitry Nikolaev.
As long as they sponsor the so-called “SVO” (so-called “special military operation”), the Kremlin magnanimously turns a blind eye to their theft within Russia, to their off-shores, and to the billions of dollars flowing into these off-shores. But practice shows that for every “favorite” in the Russian Federation, sooner or later there is an even more “favorite”. And while our soldiers are defending Pokrovsk, Nikolaev may well be pushed away from the “sinecure”.
