Exclusive: Putin's ex-wife linked to multi-million-dollar property business

Fri May 19, 2017 | 6:42am EDT FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila sit in front of the Taj Mahal while touring city of Agra, India October 4, 2000. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski/File Photo By Svetlana Reiter | MOSCOW The former wife of Russian president Vladimir Putin helped create and now supports a foundation that owns a historic Moscow property generating millions of dollars from tenants, a Reuters examination of property records has found. The building was renovated with help from associates of Putin, and the rental income is paid to a private company owned by a person whose name is the same as the maiden name of Putin's former wife, corporate records show. The rent comes from Volkonsky House in central Moscow, which was an aristocrat's home in pre-Soviet times and is now owned by The Centre for the Development of Inter-personal Communications (CDIC). Lyudmila Putina helped set up the non-commercial foundation, according to a report in state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta and two sources who worked with the center. Lyudmila was Putin's wife from 1983 until their divorce, which was announced in 2013. The foundation was created in 2002, and in September 2006 Rossiiskaya Gazeta described Lyudmila as a "trustee" of the organization. In an interview with the newspaper that year, she used the term "we" when discussing the foundation, and three sources currently familiar with the foundation's work said Lyudmila supports a literary prize and publishing arm that the foundation runs. The CDIC has offices in Volkonsky House, but most of the building is let out to tenants, including two big state banks, documents show. The tenants pay rent to a company called Meridian, which is 99 per cent owned by a company called Intererservis, corporate and property records reviewed by Reuters in early May showed. Intererservis, according to a state register of corporate entities, has been wholly owned since 2014 by a woman called Lyudmila Alexandrovna Shkrebnyova – which is the maiden name of Putin's former wife. Reuters was unable to find documents confirming that Shkrebnyova and Putin's ex-wife are the same person. But other connections, besides the name, point to the former first lady and the owner of Intererservis being the same person. A previous general director of Intererservis was Olga Alexandrovna Tsomayeva. Several Russian media reports refer to her as the sister of Putin's former wife. Tsomayeva could not be reached for comment. In addition, the other 1 percent of Meridian is owned by Tatiana Shestakova, who was the wife of Vasily Shestakov, an old friend and judo sparring partner of Putin, until the Shestakovs divorced in 2013. Shestakova, who also helped create the CDIC, according to the state registry of corporate entities, could not be reached for comment. The Kremlin property department supervised the renovation work on the Volkonsky House in Moscow's Vozdvizhenka Street, according to rental documents reviewed by Reuters, even though the building no longer belonged to the state at the time. A source involved in the renovation said Lyudmila Putina, then still the president's wife, visited Volkonsky House to inspect the work. "We all knew that the (Kremlin property) department was constantly overseeing the process," said the source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. "When Mrs Putin made an inspection visit, they immediately closed down the whole of Vozdvizhenka Street." The Russian bank VTB, one of the current tenants in Volkonsky House, alone pays more than $2 million in annual rent, according to a tender document posted on a government website in 2015. Reuters was unable to establish the total income Meridian receives from renting out space in the Moscow property or what it pays to the CDIC foundation. The company's accounts for 2015 show revenues of 225 million roubles ($3.89 million), but do not disclose where the money goes. Reuters sought comment from Meridian and the CDIC, via letters, telephone calls and visits, but received no reply. The Kremlin press service did not respond to questions about the president's former wife. The arrangements appear to fit a pattern in Putin's Russia, whereby people close to the president benefit from contracts, loans, grants or assets from state enterprises or entities closely linked to the Kremlin. Reuters has previously reported how Putin's son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov, became a billionaire after marrying a daughter of the president by acquiring a large stake in a leading Russian gas and petrochemicals company. Reuters also reported how Shamalov acquired a substantial property in Biarritz, France, from a close associate of Putin. Artur Ocheretny, described in Russian media as Shkrebnyova's new husband since 2015, is the chairman of the management board of the CDIC. In 2014, after a low-profile career running a seafood business and an event-organizing company, he too became the owner of an Art Deco villa in a suburb of Biarritz, according to local sources. His villa is estimated by estate agents to be worth about 6 million euros. Ocheretny did not respond to a request for comment passed to him via the CDIC. HELPFUL FRIENDS The building at 9 Vozdvizhenka Street is known as the Volkonsky House after its former owner General Nikolai Volkonsky, the grandfather of author Leo Tolstoy. In the 20th century, Sergei Yesenin, a popular poet, wrote some of his works there. This historic site was later owned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to a 1992 presidential decree signed by Putin's predecessor. By 2005, property records show, it had passed to a body called the Centre for the Development of the Russian Language, which later changed its name to the Centre for the Development of Inter-personal Communications. Reuters was unable to establish on what terms the language center acquired the building. The agency that handles state property, Rosimushchestvo, did not respond to Reuters questions about the building. The property was in need of renovation, and around 2005 major refurbishment was carried out. The president's allies stepped in to help. The Konstantinovsky Foundation, which was set up soon after Putin became president to restore the Konstantinovsky Palace near Putin's native St Petersburg, provided financial help, according to its website. The president often uses the palace to host foreign leaders. Vladimir Kozhin, who from 2000 until 2014 was head of the Kremlin property department, was on the board of the Konstaninovsky Foundation at the time the renovation work was carried out on Volkonsky House. Kozhin remains on the board, which has at least one other associate of Putin on it. Neither the Konstantinovsky Foundation nor Kozhin, who is now a presidential aide, responded to requests for comment. Yelena Krylova, a spokeswoman for the Kremlin property department, said she had no information about the department having been involved in the renovation. The first phase of work was completed by 2005, according to property documents, and later an extra floor was added. Natalia Samover, a historian who campaigned against the addition, told Reuters: "The building has lost its historical appearance. We no longer have the Volkonsky House, we have an eyesore half a kilometer from the Kremlin." Volkonsky House now has 5,288 square meters of floor space available for rent, according to the state property register – an area slightly larger than the White House in Washington D.C. VALUABLE TENANTS Also In Russia White House adviser is person of interest in Russia probe: report 'Loveless', a film about people that politicians will hate, screens at Cannes Foundations such as the CDIC can be created for "social, charitable, cultural, educational, scientific and management objectives," according to the Russian Justice Ministry. They can carry out entrepreneurial activity so long as it serves the purpose for which a foundation was created.  For an undisclosed amount, the CDIC lets most of Volkonsky House to Meridian, which sublets out space in the property. VTB, one of Russia's largest banks, rents 3,011 square meters, according to the 2015 tender document posted on the state procurement website. That document gives the value of the contract as 584 million roubles over a five year period, or $2.02 million per year. Asked to comment, VTB said in a statement: "We rent these premises for the needs of the retail and corporate businesses of VTB group." Other tenants include state lender Sberbank; the Severstroygroup construction company, which has won defense ministry contracts; a travel agency; a sushi restaurant; and a Burger King outlet. Sberbank said it had rented space at market rates as part of its branch strategy; Severstroygroup did not respond to requests for comment. Knight Frank, an agency that specializes in high-end real estate, said that current market rates in the building were about $600 per square meter per year. If all the leasable space in the building were let at that rate, it would generate annual revenue of $3.18 million. Meridian's income does not appear to go to its main owner, Intererservis, which reported revenues in 2015 of just 2.4 million roubles ($41,478) and a net profit of 1.76 million roubles ($30,417).   The CDIC's most recent available accounts show that in 2015 its income from all sources was 343,350,000 roubles ($5.93 million). It was not clear what all those sources were. In 2015 the CDIC spent 262,317,000 roubles ($4.53 million), according to the accounts, of which 3.4 percent was spent on social and charitable help, 6.5 percent on holding conferences and seminars, 22 percent on administrative costs and 29 percent on "other activities." The remaining 39 percent was spent on acquiring fixed assets, stock and other property, and on "miscellaneous" items. The CDIC did not respond to questions about the sources of its income and how it spent its money. The Justice Ministry said the foundation had not made annual reports on its activities – as opposed to its financial accounts – publicly available, despite being required to do so by law. The ministry said the foundation had therefore been issued with a warning. (This version of the story was refiled to fix spelling of Intererservis in paragraph 7) (Additional reporting by Kira Zavyalova; Editing By Richard Woods and Christian Lowe)

The property manager and Putin's friends

Thu Mar 31, 2016 | 10:58 AM EDT ‹ Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto following their talks at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, in this March 22, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool/Files Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto following their talks at the Novo-Ogaryovo... Reuters/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool/Files + Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) smiles next to Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva during a meeting with the Russian Olympic team at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia in this November 4, 2004 file photo. REUTERS/ITAR-TASS/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/Files Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) smiles next to Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva during a meeting with the Russian Olympic team at the Kremlin in Mosc... Reuters/ITAR-TASS/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/Files + Katerina Tikhonova (L), daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, dances with Ivan Klimov during the World Cup Rock'n'Roll Acrobatic Competition in Krakow, Poland, in this April 12, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Jakub Dabrowski/Files Katerina Tikhonova (L), daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, dances with Ivan Klimov during the World Cup Rock'n'Roll Acrobatic Competition in... Reuters/Jakub Dabrowski/Files + Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto following their talks at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, in this March 22, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool/Files Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto following their talks at the Novo-Ogaryovo... Reuters/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool/Files + Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) smiles next to Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva during a meeting with the Russian Olympic team at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia in this November 4, 2004 file photo. REUTERS/ITAR-TASS/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/Files Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) smiles next to Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva during a meeting with the Russian Olympic team at the Kremlin in Mosc... Reuters/ITAR-TASS/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/Files + › The property manager and Putin's friendsX By Stephen Grey and Jack Stubbs LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A little-known Russian businessman from St Petersburg has provided properties to multiple women who share one common theme: President Vladimir Putin. One of the women is Putin's younger daughter; two are close relatives of a woman Russian media have reported to be Putin's girlfriend – though the president has strongly denied any relationship. And a fourth is a student who posed for a calendar celebrating the president's birthday. All of the properties are in upmarket gated complexes in and around Moscow. Public records show Grigory Baevsky, a 47-year-old business associate of an old friend of Putin, sold or transferred the properties to three of the women. In the other case, Putin's younger child, Katerina Tikhonova, used the address of a flat owned by Baevsky as her own when registering a new company. The connections add to the picture of individuals in Putin's wider circle and the way these people blur the lines between public and private business. Last year, Reuters reported that Putin's daughter Tikhonova, who holds a senior position at Moscow State University, is personally advised by some of Putin's oldest friends. She is also married to Kirill Shamalov, son of billionaire Nikolai Shamalov, an associate of Putin's. READ MORE: Comrade Capitalism: How Russia does business in the Putin era Baevsky has worked as an aide to another close friend of Putin, his judo partner, Arkady Rotenberg. Public records show that companies co-owned by Baevsky have benefited from state construction contracts worth at least 6 billion rubles ($89 million) in the past two years. Baevsky has previously attracted little attention. His connection to Putin was uncovered by investigative journalist Roman Anin who was conducting research for the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an East European media network. Baevsky is a former property manager for a state company in St Petersburg. In 2006, he founded a dacha cooperative near the city with Arkady Rotenberg and Rotenberg's brother Boris, public records show. Baevsky went into business with the Rotenbergs in 2011, working until 2014 as a director at Arkady Rotenberg's investment vehicle, the Russian Holding company, according to corporate filings. Public records also show he was declared as an 'affiliated person' of SMP Bank, which is majority-owned by the brothers. Arkady Rotenberg was among the first Russian businessmen to be put under Western visa bans and asset freezes over Moscow's seizure of Crimea. According to the U.S. Treasury, Rotenberg and his brother Boris have won billions of dollars from projects awarded to them by Putin. The brothers have denied getting help from the Russian leader for their businesses. ADVERTISEMENT Reuters sent questions about the property deals to Baevsky's last known home address, and to businesses owned by him, but received no response. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters: "We know nothing about who this (Baevsky) is. The President is also not acquainted with him." Separately, Peskov told reporters on a conference call that the Kremlin was facing a series of queries from international media about Putin's relationship with his childhood friends and their receipt of state contracts. He said he would not comment because the Kremlin believes the articles are part of a politically-motivated campaign to discredit Putin. A spokesman for Rotenberg said the businessman had no information about Baevsky's property deals. Asked if Baevsky was acting on behalf of Rotenberg in his property dealings, or if they were related to Rotenberg's friendship with Putin, Rotenberg's spokesman said: "Of course not. Such declarations are absurd." The spokesman said Baevsky "does not work" for any Arkady Rotenberg company or holding. STUPID QUESTIONS? The role of Baevsky emerged when the OCCRP – which is funded by the Open Society Institute, USAID, and the Swiss government, among others – discovered that a woman called Katerina Tikhonova declared her home to be an apartment owned by the businessman. Tikhonova, as Reuters reported last year, is Putin's 29-year-old daughter. In November 2012, she used the apartment's address when she filed papers to register herself as co-founder and owner of a private company called Interdisciplinary Initiatives Foundation in Natural Sciences and Humanities. Reuters has reviewed the Tikhonova company registration papers, and public documents confirm the flat is owned by Baevsky. It is not known whether Tikhonova lived at the flat or paid any rent there. The flat is around 6.5 km (4 miles) from Putin's official residence. Tikhonova did not respond to questions about her use of the address. RECOMMENDED: When mobsters meet hackers - the new, improved bank heist In addition to the Tikhonova deal, public records show that in 2013 Baevsky transferred ownership of a home and plot of land in a pine forest at Uspenskoe in the Moscow region to Anna Zatsepilina. The neighborhood is one of the most expensive in Russia. Zatsepilina is the 81-year-old grandmother of Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast and public supporter of Putin. In 2008 the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Korrespondent named Kabaeva as Putin's girlfriend. Putin has rejected the assertion and Reuters could not independently confirm it. The newspaper closed soon after the article appeared. Zatsepilina could not be reached for comment. The Uspenskoe home sits within a gated community and is protected by security guards, who denied access to Reuters and declined to help contact any of its residents. In an earlier deal, in 2009, public records show that Baevsky transferred ownership of an apartment in Veresaeva Street in the Moscow suburbs to Leysan Kabaeva. She is the sister of Alina, the former gymnast. Asked about how she came to acquire the property from Baevsky, a spokeswoman for a company owned and run by Leysan Kabaeva declined to comment. Asked about Alina Kabaeva's relationship with Putin and about Baevsky's dealings with her relatives, a spokeswoman for the former gymnast said: "They are all adults, answer to themselves, and live their own lives. Alina Maratovna Kabaeva is not connected to a single one of these questions." Last year Baevsky transferred another apartment in a smart gated complex in Moscow to Alisa Kharcheva, a 23-year-old former international relations student. The sale price was not disclosed. In 2010, a group of students and would-be students from Moscow State University created a calendar to celebrate Putin's birthday. The calendar featured pictures of themselves; Kharcheva starred on the month of April. Two years later, Kharcheva posed with a cat and a photograph of the president in a personal blog post entitled "Pussy for Putin," which extolled the president's leadership. The blog post also featured her entry from the 2010 calendar. Asked how she came to buy a flat from Baevsky, Kharcheva said the transaction was a normal one conducted through a real estate agency. She said she did not know the businessman. "We bought this flat with a mortgage. And we pay that mortgage to this day." Asked if any connection to Putin had helped her obtain the flat from Baevsky, she replied: "No one has ever asked me such stupid questions." (This version of the story corrects spelling of Maratovna in second section) (Additional reporting by Anthony Carter and Winnie Agbonlahor; Edited by Richard Woods and Simon Robinson)