Chianti from Medvedev, Montepulciano by Yakunin, and Merlot à la Mikhalkov: A brief guide to the Italian vineyards of Putin’s inner circle

This is a joint investigation with IRPImedia.

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The EU-subsidized vineyards of Putin’s allies

Russian-owned vineyards in Italy have long been the subject of media scrutiny. One might assume that Putin’s allies would have abandoned such assets following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet The Insider has found that their wine businesses continue to thrive.

For instance, the Italian winery associated with Dmitry Medvedev — whose university classmate, Ilya Yeliseev, remains a minority shareholder — is still receiving EU agricultural subsidies. Igor Rotenberg, son of billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, still owns a Tuscan estate — eleven years after Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) alerted Italian financial police to the identity of the property’s beneficial owner. Meanwhile, oligarch Roman Trotsenko, a known associate of Igor Sechin, retained control of a Tuscan airport used by the Italian Air Force by transferring nominal ownership to a friend of his wife.

In total, Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats have received more than €1 million in subsidies over the past ten years from the EU Common Agricultural Policy Fund (CAP), Italy’s EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), and various state support programs.

In 2015 and 2018, the EU adopted its 4th and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directives, which required member states to create public registries of beneficial owners. These reforms were designed to expose hidden wealth, particularly in countries where ownership data was either missing or restricted. But in 2022, the European Court ruled that open public access to such registries violated privacy rights, effectively shutting them down.

The lawsuit was filed by the company Sovim SA and an individual identified only as “W.M.” whom the Luxembourg Times later identified as Patrick Hansen, director of the private jet firm Luxaviation. According to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Hansen’s business partner in the jet leasing industry was Nikolai Bogachev, a former KGB officer. The independent Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo reported that, up until 2006, Bogachev had controlled the Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas field via the company Tambeyneftegaz. After selling it, he registered a company in Luxembourg called Young Energy Prize in order to pursue oil and gas projects in Africa. One of Hansen’s companies, based in the British Virgin Islands, held over $3 million in assets across Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Russia.

In theory, EU regulations require countries to track the ultimate beneficiaries of financial aid. In practice, however, inquiries directed to Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) and National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) revealed that even domestic databases lack ownership information — let alone information for foreign-controlled firms.

The Insider lifts the veil on this opaque system with a brief tour through the Italian vineyards owned by members of Putin’s circle of allies and cronies.

Dmitry Medvedev and Fattoria della Aiola

Described by Donald Trump as a “failed ex-president who still thinks he’s president,” Dmitry Medvedev has become known for his vitriolic online posts — characterizing European leaders, for example, as a “pack of grunting piglets.”

As The Insider previously noted, Medvedev’s most scandalous social media posts often coincide with shipments of wine from his Italian estate.

The Fattoria della Aiola Winery

The Tuscan winery Fattoria della Aiola was acquired in 2012 by the Dar Foundation, which is led by Ilya Yeliseev — Medvedev’s former classmate and business partner and currently a deputy chairman of Gazprombank. A 2017 investigation by Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) revealed that Yeliseev served as a nominee owner for multiple assets that, in practice, were actually used by Medvedev. In 2022, Yeliseev was sanctioned by the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. But in the European Union, not only has he avoided sanctions — his winery continues to receive EU subsidies.

According to a report by the investigative outlet Tochka, Yeliseev still owns 9% of Aiola. The rest belongs to Cyprus-based Dockell Limited, an entity that is solely owned by Russian citizen Alexei Shvetsov. In Russia, Shvetsov manages FinconsultingK («ФинконсалтингК»), a company tied to the Winter Sports Support Fund — yet another entity with links to Medvedev. In 2020, Shvetsov was on the payroll of Seym-Agro JSC (АО «Сейм-Агро»), which at the time was headed by Andrey Medvedev, Dmitry Medvedev’s cousin.

Total funding received from the EU: €115,032, with €94,200 disbursed between 2022 and 2024 — after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Gennady Timchenko’s son-in-law and Riecine

Gleb Frank, the son of Sergey Frank — Russia’s former Transport Minister and the ex-CEO of state-owned shipping giant Sovcomflot — often makes headlines because of his marriage to Ksenia Timchenko. Following the younger Frank’s 2011 wedding to the daughter of longtime Putin associate Gennady Timchenko, Gleb Frank was swiftly appointed to the boards of three companies linked to his powerful new father-in-law. That same year, Frank partnered with Maxim Vorobyov, the son of the Moscow Region governor, to launch “Russian Sea–Harvest,” a Far East fishing venture that from 2011 to 2014 embarked on a spree of acquisitions. The company was eventually rebranded as Russian Fishery Company LLC (RRPK).

Frank became one of the beneficiaries of Russia’s 2014 food embargo, which barred seafood imports from Europe, giving local operators a major boost. At the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Frank owned Russia’s largest pollock and crab harvesting companies. Shortly before being hit with personal sanctions, he offloaded his 70.1% stake in Russian Crab Group, his 70.09% stake in RRPK, and his controlling interest in Rockwell Capital LLC. The buyers were the companies' top executives.

The Riecine winery

Among the Frank family’s acquisitions following Gleb’s marriage into the Timchenko clan was the Tuscan winery Riecine, as reported by The Insider in 2023. The estate, owned through Swiss firm Guerine, was registered to Svetlana (Lana) Frank, Gleb’s mother and Ksenia’s mother-in-law.

In 2022, Riecine’s winemaker, Alessandro Campatelli, became the new owner of 80% of Società Agricola Riecine S.R.L., while the remaining 20% went to Singapore-based Ex Ceres PTE Ltd. The transaction was likely nominal. The average annual salary of a winemaker in Florence is just over €39,000 — hardly enough to afford a multimillion-euro estate.

Total funding received from the EU: €167,326, of which €127,100 was disbursed between 2022 and 2024.

Rotenberg’s son and Case dell’Olmo

Igor Rotenberg, the son of Putin’s Leningrad judo sparring partner Arkady Rotenberg, ranks #65 on the billionaire list compiled by Forbes Russia. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Igor Rotenberg’s net worth has risen from $950 million to $2.2 billion. After Putin came to power, Igor took a post at the Ministry of State Property, then served as a vice president at Russian Railways (RZD) from 2004 to 2005 before taking on the task of managing his father’s assets.

The younger Rotenberg acquired key stakes in Mostotrest, TEP Mosenergo, Gazprom Burenie, and TPS Real Estate from his father after Arkady was sanctioned following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. This transfer earned Igor a spot in the top-10 of Forbes’ 2018 “Kings of State Contracts” list. The Rotenberg family profits from government contracts for bridge construction and highway toll collection, from deals with Gazprom and Rosneft, and even from sales of the “Putinka” vodka brand. Igor has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 and under UK, EU, Swiss, and Japanese sanctions since 2022.

The Rotenbergs actively support Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine. Viktor Shendrik, a former security officer and business partner of the family, now heads RZD’s security service. He also funds the Española Private Military Company (PMC) — a nationalist Russian volunteer unit fighting in Ukraine. Another PMC, “Convoy,” is reportedly financed by the Rotenbergs through the Crimean resort company Ai-Petri, which is owned by Arkady via the Infrastructure Project Management Company («УКИП» or “UKIP”).

The Case dell’Olmo Estate

In 2014, a joint investigation by Novaya Gazeta and the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) revealed Igor Rotenberg’s connection to a 200-hectare estate and inactive winery on Monte Argentario, a picturesque Tuscan peninsula. The property — Case dell’Olmo — is owned by two entities: Immobiliare Case dell'Olmo S.R.L. and Case dell'Olmo S.A.S.R.L.

Although Luxembourg-based Costa Ligure Anstalt is the official owner, investigators noted that Igor Rotenberg’s name appeared in planning documents, invoices, and construction blueprints as the commissioning party for various projects on the estate.

The ACF filed a formal complaint with Italy’s financial police in 2014. The organization presented documents implicating Rotenberg and urged an investigation.

In 2019, the director of Case dell’Olmo became embroiled in a legal scandal that confirmed Rotenberg’s ties to the Italian villas. Italian firm Eggzero had been hired to perform expensive renovations at another Rotenberg property — Villa Roccamare, located 100 kilometers away. Following a pattern common in Russia, the Rotenbergs first delayed payments and then refused to pay altogether, hiring a new contractor. Eggzero went bankrupt and sued. Attorney Andrea Orabona discovered that the villa managers were Rotenberg confidants who coordinated directly with him — both on the project and on the decision not to pay the contractor.

One of those confidants was Natia Peikrishvili, director of both Case dell’Olmo companies. L’Espresso quoted her communications with an Italian lawyer: “I spoke to him; IA (Igor Arkadyevich) wants to take the toughest possible stance on Roccamare.” The lawyer replied the same day: “Understood, we’re ready to proceed. We’re considering a bankruptcy filing against Eggzero.”

Eleven years after the ACF probe, Peikrishvili still manages both companies. Costa Ligure Anstalt, the formal owner, changed that firm’s legal form to a joint-stock company in 2025 and renamed it as CLA AG, but the company’s beneficial owners still have not been formally disclosed.

In 2021, Case dell’Olmo S.A.S.R.L. recorded virtually no commercial activity, showing €4,000 in revenue and reporting a €761,000 loss. However, more recent financial reporting for Immobiliare Case dell’Olmo S.R.L. showed that that company posted €803,000 in revenue in 2022 and €2.26 million in 2023.

Vladimir Yakunin’s son and Castello di Antognolla

Andrey Yakunin, son of Vladimir Yakunin, oversees most of his family’s foreign assets. Before becoming CEO of Russian Railways (RZD), the elder Yakunin served from 1985 to 1991 as a KGB officer in New York, working under diplomatic cover.

A close associate of Putin through the Ozero dacha cooperative, Vladimir Yakunin co-founded Bank Rossiya with Yury Kovalchuk. The dacha club and the financial institution tied Yakunin not only to the Kremlin elite, but also to organized crime.

Yakunin led RZD for a decade, using high-level political connections to move hundreds of millions of dollars offshore via affiliated entities — leaving RZD itself in frequent deficit. An investigation by Alexei Navalny estimated the value of Yakunin’s Moscow-region estate — which featured a climate-controlled fur coat storage room — at $100 million.

Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Yakunin was sanctioned by the U.S., U.K., and Canada. However, the EU has not imposed sanctions against him. Vladimir’s son Andrey, a British citizen, has not been included on any sanctions lists and continues to invest money moved out of Russia in Europe. The family uses firms based in Luxembourg and Cyprus to manage their holdings. The acronym VIY in the names of these companies refers to Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin.

Their main financial vehicle is the Luxembourg-based anonymous joint-stock company Northern Lights Investment SA. As of late 2024, it held assets worth €112.1 million. The company is managed by Irina Svinar, a Luxembourg resident and a longtime administrator of firms linked to Yakunin Jr.

Alexei Navalny’s investigations showed that VIY-linked firms own a network of hotels located near railway stations, and that they are financed via RZD’s affiliated pension fund “Blagosostoyanie.” Service fees from RZD ticket sales were funneled through the Cyprus-based company UFS. VIY also profited from geogrid supplies that were used to stabilize slopes and tracks.

The Antognolla luxury resort

The crown jewel of the Yakunin family’s VIY Greater Europe Hospitality portfolio is the Antognolla resort in Umbria, near Tuscany. In 2015, the Yakunin fund paid €10.7 million to acquire a 12.5% stake in a firm involved in redeveloping the medieval Castello di Antognolla.

Today, the majority owner is Northern Lights Investments, and Andrey Yakunin serves as chairman of the board. According to the resort’s website, initial investments totaled €173 million. The 560-hectare estate now includes a restored castle, 70 hotel rooms, 79 villas, and a golf course.

The original plan was to launch the resort under the Four Seasons brand, following Yakunin’s prior collaboration with the chain at St. Petersburg’s Lions Palace. Ultimately, however, they partnered with Six Senses, which is part of the UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group.

The winery attached to the boutique resort is advised by Riccardo Cotarella, one of Italy’s most renowned oenologists. Cotarella recently worked with the Divnomorskoye Estate (which lied close to Putin’s Black Sea palace) and with Tenuta Dodici, which is owned by film director Nikita Mikhalkov. Cotarella’s current Russian clients include only Andrey Yakunin and La Madonnina, which is owned by oligarch Konstantin Nikolaev.

In October 2022, Andrey Yakunin was arrested in Norway for flying a drone over Svalbard. The country had banned Russian nationals from operating drones and aircraft over its territory following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The younger Yakunin was initially acquitted and allowed to leave the country. However, the Norwegian Supreme Court later ordered a retrial. As of July 2025, courts had yet to determine whether the former spy’s son’s use of a drone posed a threat to national security.

Ex-minister Leonid Reiman and Poggio del Moro

Leonid Dododzhonovich Reiman, born in 1957 in Leningrad, began his career as an engineer at the state-owned Leningrad City Telephone Network. By 1991, he had become deputy head of the organization. During this period, Reiman likely established contact with Vladimir Putin through Sergei Stepashin, who in 1991–1992 headed the directorate of the AFB (the future FSB) for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The security services regularly approached the city's telecommunications companies with requests for wiretaps and maintained close contact with them.

Reiman was inevitably involved with Putin between 1993 and 1996, when he sought foreign investment for the newly formed Telecominvest JSC. Decisions on such funding required approval from the Committee for External Relations at the St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office — chaired at the time by Deputy Mayor Putin. The closeness of the two men from St. Petersburg is further evidenced by the fact that in 1998–1999, Telecominvest’s Moscow office was headed by Lyudmila Putina, Putin’s then-wife.

In late August 1999, just two weeks after Putin was named prime minister, Reiman was appointed first deputy chairman of the State Committee for Telecommunications. A month later, he was promoted to be chairman of the same committee, and upon its transformation into a ministry, he became Russia’s first Minister of Information Technology and Communications.

Reiman’s future wealth largely came courtesy of the privatization of state-owned Petersburg Telephone Network JSC and St. Petersburg Intercity International Telephone JSC. These companies were consolidated into the Telecominvest holding, which enjoyed substantial state support and soon expanded from fixed-line services into paging and mobile communications.

One of Telecominvest’s key assets was a 45% stake in the mobile monopoly North-West GSM, which would later become the foundation of Megafon, one of Russia’s largest mobile operators. However, the company’s shareholders were not the ones who profited from its growth.

Reiman twice arranged for additional share issuances in the companies he controlled, pricing the shares at nominal levels. As a result, ownership shifted from the Russian Federation to the Luxembourg-based First National Holding.

In 2011, prosecutors in Frankfurt uncovered that Reiman himself was the ultimate beneficiary of this scheme, having paid just $1.8 to acquire assets worth over $150 million. In effect, the Communications Minister became the owner of the leading telecom firm in northwest Russia for about 1% of its actual value. According to the prosecutor’s report, total damages to the Russian state exceeded $440 million.

Reiman and Russian law enforcement authorities ignored German requests to cooperate. Only five of Reiman’s associates were prosecuted: four Commerzbank employees, plus Danish attorney Jeffrey Galmond. In the end, only the German bank faced consequences, paying €7.3 million in fines and restitution for laundering the embezzled funds.

A 2008 investigation by Spanish prosecutors revealed that Reiman had connections not only with Russia’s political elite but also with the notorious Malyshev organized crime group. The indictments in the “Troika” case documented senior Russian officials' ties to the mafia.

One notable example: wiretap evidence revealed that Reiman had direct contact with gang leader Gennady Petrov, his business partner in Caspian Petr RE LLC. Both men were also linked to another prominent crime figure, Ilya Traber.

The Poggio del Moro winery

Located on the border of Tuscany and Umbria, the Poggio del Moro winery is 100% owned by Irish firm Midleton Telecom Limited. Until 2022, the sole beneficiary of the company was Leonid Reiman, but since then, ownership has been transferred to Olga Reiman. According to the Italian commercial registry, as of late 2020 the winery’s assets were valued at €13.1 million.

Reiman has not concealed his connection to the Tuscan vineyard. Since 2019, his wife Olga Reiman — nearly 30 years his junior — has served as an advisor to the winery. The company’s management also includes Tatyana Kuznetsova, who retains Reiman’s surname on her VK profile and is reportedly his niece.

Total funding received from the EU: €182,248, most of it after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between 2022 and 2024, Poggio del Moro was awarded €148,100 in subsidies. Neither Leonid Reiman nor his relatives are under any international sanctions. According to Important Stories, Olga Reiman obtained Serbian citizenship after the war began.

Ex-minister Vladimir Strzhalkovsky and La Scarpa

Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, a former KGB officer from the Leningrad Region, rose to power via his connections with Vladimir Putin and Nikolai Patrushev. In the 1990s, Strzhalkovsky left the security services to enter the tourism business and was also involved in organizing prostitution.

In late 1999, three months after Putin became prime minister, Strzhalkovsky was appointed deputy minister for physical culture, sports, and tourism. He later became chairman of the State Committee for Physical Culture, Sports, and Tourism. In 2000, he was named deputy minister of Economic Development and Trade, under German Gref.

Despite having never worked a single day in industry, in 2008 Strzhalkovsky was named CEO of the mining giant Norilsk Nickel. He held the post for four years, earning an annual salary of between $17 million and $25 million. Upon his departure from the company in 2012, he received a $100 million “golden parachute.” The severance package was the largest in Russian history.

Even after his corporate career came to an end, Strzhalkovsky maintained close ties with Russian security services. He serves on the supervisory board of Rosselkhozbank, chaired by Dmitry Patrushev. Children of former intelligence officers own neighboring cottages to the Strzhalkovskys in the resort town of Gelendzhik. And Strzhalkovsky’s own son, Yevgeny, is a graduate of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Academy.

The La Scarpa winery

The Strzhalkovsky family owns a European alcohol and hospitality holding, as was detailed in an April 2025 investigation by The Insider. Until recently, the family also held several assets in the U.K., including the Sandbank whisky distillery, the 12-bedroom Knockdow House mansion in Scotland, and a stake in Global Wine Solutions, a major global supplier of luxury alcohol for superyachts.

Following scrutiny from British financial regulators, the Strzhalkovskys sold off their UK holdings. However, in the EU, they appear to still be in business. Irina Strzhalkovskaya owns three hotels in the Italian spa town of Abano Terme, two hotels in Greece, and shares in three other Italian hotels.

Yevgeny Strzhalkovsky, through his Monaco-based firm Thesauro Praetor, owns the vermouth producer Monte Carlo, the in-development Burgundy winery Gundibald Vignobles, the Czech brewery Svabin, and the Piedmont winery La Scarpa. As of the end of 2022, La Scarpa’s assets were valued at €20.52 million.

Nikita Mikhalkov and Tenuta Dodici

In 1995, film director Nikita Mikhalkov won an Oscar. However, none of his recent films have broken even at the box office, and in Russia, he is now best known as the author of the conspiratorial propaganda project Besogon (lit. “Exorcist”). Yet Mikhalkov continues to receive significant income from the state. As reported by the Russian business publcation RBC, in 2017 Mikhalkov earned 529 million rubles (more than $8 million at the time). His extensive list of properties included 89 land plots, six residential houses, a dacha, an apartment, six more apartment units, 11 non-residential buildings, five parking spots, a car, a helicopter, and a tractor.

Mikhalkov’s main source of income remains the Russian Union of Rightsholders (RUR), which collects a 1% levy on all audio and video recording equipment imported into Russia. Officially, the fund is a nonprofit organization that merely distributes the collected funds to content creators. But in practice, most of the fund’s resources, according to financial reports on the Russian Federal Tax Service’s website, go toward maintaining its leadership: Council President Nikita Mikhalkov and his son, Board Chairman Artyom.

In 2024, the fund collected 2.67 billion rubles in contributions ($33.4 million). Not only was the entire amount spent, but nearly all of the fund's accumulated reserves were also used.

Of that amount, 728 million rubles ($9.1 million) went to management operations, 251 million ($3.1 million) were spent on payroll, and 52 million ($650,000) covered premises and transportation costs. An additional 413 million rubles ($5.2 million) were spent on “other expenses,” and 2.97 billion rubles ($37.1 million) went to “miscellaneous activities” — categories whose structures are not publicly disclosed.

The La Madonna Sarl winery

In 2010, Mikhalkov’s business partner Konstantin Tuvykin proposed another joint venture — a winery in Tuscany. Land was purchased near the seashore, a new winery building was constructed, and star consultant Riccardo Cotarella was brought on board. Initially, ownership of La Madonna Sarl, which produces Dodici wines, was split evenly between Tuvykin and Mikhalkov. Today, the shares are held 10% by Konstantin Tuvykin and 90% by his son, Stepan.

Thanks to the famous name behind the venture, Dodici wines debuted on Aeroflot flights between Moscow and Sochi as early as 2013. The first importer of the “wines with mustaches” in Russia was Simple, a wine distributor favored by Putin’s elite. However, Mikhalkov later chose to handle distribution himself.

Today, Dodici wines are sold in eponymous restaurants and wine boutiques in Nizhny Novgorod and Pavlovo. The Italian enterprise, however, incurs significant annual losses: in 2023, La Madonna reported €419,000 in revenue but suffered a €408,000 loss. In 2022, revenue was €269,000, with losses totaling €322,000.

While there is no direct evidence that Mikhalkov continues to earn profits from Tuvykin’s wine sales, it seems unlikely that a wealth-accumulating owner of 89 land plots would allow a former partner to use the names of his films on wine labels without collecting royalties.

Total funding received from the EU: €3,910.

Oleg Deripaska’s manager and Belagaio

The business career of Krasnoyarsk metallurgist Valery Matviyenko (no relation to Federation Council chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko) was closely tied to oligarch Oleg Deripaska. After graduating from the Siberian Metallurgical Institute in Novokuznetsk, Matviyenko worked first as an engineer, then as a manager at the Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, and Novokuznetsk aluminum plants. He joined the ranks of top management at Deripaska’s Rusal in 2002 as production director of Russian Aluminum Management JSC. By 2008, he had cycled through roles including deputy general director of production, deputy general director for aluminum business at Rusal Management LLC, and director of the engineering and construction division of UC Rusal.

In 2008, Matviyenko crossed paths with another future winemaker featured in this story — Vladimir Strzhalkovsky. Both were in the top management of Norilsk Nickel, but on opposite sides of a corporate battle, representing different company shareholders. Strzhalkovsky, who represented Vladimir Potanin’s interests in the Kremlin, was CEO. Matviyenko, representing Deripaska, served as first deputy CEO and was responsible for day-to-day operations — effectively running the enterprise.

When Deripaska’s associate Nat Rothschild described Norilsk Nickel's affairs to Vedomosti in 2010, he was stunned that the CEO and his top deputy in charge of operations had not spoken for six months. Strzhalkovsky eventually left Norilsk Nickel in 2012. Matviyenko remained on the company’s board of directors until 2014. There is no public record of him holding any executive posts since.

Matviyenko’s new source of income likely emerged after he left his executive posts in metallurgy. In a 2009 loan application, Matviyenko declared a total annual family income of 3.4 million rubles ($42,500) — a modest sum for an executive of his stature.

By 2020, the former metallurgist had become co-owner of a health resort in Adygea. A company report from that year indicates Matviyenko owned 50% of the charter capital of JSC Sanatorium “Zdravnitsa Lago-Naki.” Revenue from the wellness facility reached 156 million rubles ($1.9 million) in 2020, rising to 323 million ($4 million) by 2024. Leaked banking records reveal that Matviyenko held over 350 million rubles ($4.4 million) in deposits across Raiffeisen Bank, Rosbank, and T-Bank.

The Belagaio winery

Between 2021 and 2024, Matviyenko registered three companies involved in wine sales in Russia: the importer Belagaio.Ru LLC, the Belagaio wine shop on Kronstadt Boulevard, and the Cantina Belagaio restaurant on 2nd Ostankinskaya Street. All of them sell products from the Tuscan winery Belagaio.

The restaurant’s website explicitly states that the producer of Chianti and Vermentino is owned by Moscow restaurateurs. The development of Matviyenko's wine business has clearly been hindered by Russia’s increase in import tariffs. In 2022, Belagaio’s revenue jumped from €48,100 to €481,400, only to plunge to €148,900 in 2023.

The “garbage king of the Trans-Urals” and La Piemontina

The assets of Alexey Bobrov, one of the key oligarchs of Russia’s Ural Federal District, span critical infrastructure sectors across the Urals and surrounding regions. His commercial interests can be found in energy, waste management, water supply, and sewage systems. Investigative outlet Yozh LAB has linked Bobrov to former Sverdlovsk Region governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev.

Together with his business partner Artyom Bykov, Bobrov controls energy supply in the Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, and Tyumen regions, as well as in the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous districts. These assets cover the full energy cycle, from generation and transmission to retail sales, allowing Bobrov and Bykov to exert decisive influence on tariffs and reap significant profits.

Due to his control over regional operators handling solid municipal waste in multiple regions, Bobrov has earned the nickname “garbage king of the Trans-Urals.” His enterprises own waste sorting complexes, the “Yekaterinburg-South” landfill, waste transfer stations, and waste sorting plants.

Bobrov’s key asset in water supply is Vodny Soyuz JSC, which in 2012 signed a 49-year lease (until 2061) for the assets of Kurganvodokanal. The company provides cold water services throughout the Kurgan Region, including through the supplier “Vodny Soyuz” and infrastructure managed by SUENKO. Bobrov’s entities also handle wastewater management in Trans-Ural, operating sewer networks and treatment facilities, effectively providing a full range of utilities in the region.

The head of the Bobrov family openly supports Russia’s military aggression. Since March 17, 2025, Alexey Bobrov has served as director of the Interregional Fund for the Support of Combat Veterans, established by Kurgańskaya Generiruyushchaya Kompaniya PJSC, a company linked to Bobrov. The fund actively supports mobilized employees from Bobrov’s companies, regularly supplying equipment to Russian forces in Ukraine. In February 2025, mobilized employees of Energo-Gaz-Noyabrsk received bulletproof vests, ballistic plates, drones, and night-vision devices. In December 2024, two Gazelle vehicles were sent to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Kreminna, and in November 2024, two more Gazelle utility vehicles and a Niva SUV were dispatched from Surgut to Russian military units.

The Bobrov family established a presence in Europe as far back as the 2000s, and in 2011, prosecutors accused Bobrov and Bykov of bribery in connection with their acquisition of Austrian citizenship. According to the investigators, in 2007 the businessmen each paid €450,000 to Jörg Haider — then the leader of the country’s far-right Freedom Party and governor of Carinthia — to obtain Austrian passports. At the time, Bobrov and Bykov were in the process of acquiring citizenship for “extraordinary services” as investors in Austria.

In 2005, the two Russians had invested around $2 million in a sponsorship deal for local Formula 1 driver Patrick Friesacher, and subsequent payments were made in an effort to speed up the naturalization process. The investigation was complicated by Haider’s death in a car accident in 2008. Ultimately, Bobrov and Bykov retained their Austrian citizenship.

In 2020, Novaya Gazeta reported that Bobrov had purchased a six-story Georgian-style mansion on London’s Old Queen Street, near the Treasury and Foreign Office, for an estimated £15.5 million.

The La Piemontina winery

In Italy, the Bobrov family owns the La Piemontina winery. Though the Russian distributor claims the winery was founded in 2010, the legal entity La Piemontina was incorporated in 2013, and the official launch occurred only in 2022 after vineyards were planted and construction was completed.

The large high-tech facility is surrounded by 60 hectares of land, including 20 hectares of vineyards. Notably, after 12 years of operation, the company has never published financial statements.

The Bobrov family does not hide its connection to the winery. Ownership is registered to Alexey’s wife, Lyudmila Bobrova (98%), and their son Vyacheslav (1%), an Austrian citizen. Lyudmila was listed as a representative on a landscaping permit issued by the municipality of Sizzano in Piedmont in January 2021, and she is also the registered holder of the La Piemontina trademark in Russia.

The Bobrovs have used their winery to promote pro-Kremlin narratives. On May 9, 2025, a large Victory Day celebration took place at La Piemontina. The winery was decorated with black-and-orange St. George ribbons, along with red stars. Catering staff, dressed in stylized Soviet military uniforms, served guests buckwheat porridge.

Super Tuscans and weapons systems

Konstantin Nikolaev is a native of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro (formerly known as Dnipropetrovsk). Since the start of the full-scale war, Nikolaev has worked as hard to distance himself from his projects as he once did to promote them. Until recently, one of Nikolaev’s key assets was an 11% stake in Globaltrans, a rail freight operator that owns a fleet of 63,500 rolling stock units.

Another of Nikolaev’s ventures is in the field of weapons manufacturing. Independent economics-focused outlet The Bell reported that Nikolaev’s interest in firearms was inspired by his wife Svetlana, who was active in practical shooting and eventually convinced him to invest in the production of a Russian rifle. In 2009, the company Promtechnologiya LLC was founded (under the ownership of Promyshlennye Tekhnologii JSC), and in 2011, the ORSIS rifle brand was launched (the name plays on the Russian phrase «ОРужейные СИСтемы», or “Weapon Systems”).

Formally at least, the weapons assets that were formerly linked to Nikolaev are now managed by Alexander Georgievich Kim, director of Promyshlennye Tekhnologii JSC and of Stolichnaya Paevaya Kompaniya JSC. Both are registered at the same address in Moscow (Bolshoy Strochenovsky Lane, 5, floor 2, room 5) and share the same phone number.

Stolichnaya Paevaya Kompaniya owns a 46% stake in Tula Cartridge Plant JSC and 50% of Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant JSC. In Tula Cartridge Plant’s last publicly available report from 2020, Svetlana Nikolaeva was listed as a board member and held over 20% of shares.

The Nikolaev family has been actively involved in U.S. politics. Konstantin’s son, Andrey Nikolaev, volunteered on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign while studying in the U.S. The Washington Post reported that Andrey was seen at the Trump International Hotel in Washington during the 2017 inauguration.

That same year, during a visit to Beijing, Trump and Xi Jinping co-chaired a ceremony at which American companies signed deals with Chinese partners. One of them was a $26 billion agreement for the delivery of liquid ethane from American Ethane, a Texas-based firm 88% owned by Konstantin Nikolaev, as well as Russian nationals Mikhail Yuryev and Andrey Kunatbayev.

American Ethane resurfaced in the news in early 2024, when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson delayed the passage of a Senate-approved $95 billion aid package that included $60 billion for Ukraine. Six years earlier, American Ethane had donated $12,000 to Johnson’s campaign. Although the money was later returned, the confluence of events sparked allegations that Johnson was accommodating Russian interests.

The most controversial aspect of Nikolaev’s U.S. involvement remains his financial support of Maria Butina, the Russian spy who attempted to infiltrate American gun lobby circles. Nikolaev’s assistance to Butina coincided with the development of his weapons project in Russia.

In August 2013, Promtechnologiya's CEO announced that the firm would start cooperating with the U.S. firearms manufacturer ArmaLite. The Russian company planned to assemble AR-10 and M-15 rifles from American components. These are semi-automatic versions of the famous M16 automatic rifle, which has been in service with the U.S. Army since the 1960s.

The La Madonnina winery

After the scandal with Butina and the start of the full-scale war in 2022, press releases mentioning Nikolaev’s weapons ventures vanished — along with announcements about a winery project he had previously promoted. However, an interview Nikolaev gave in 2021 about his purchase of the estate remains on the YouTube channel of the Tuscan Bolgheri e Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC wine consortium.

Nikolaev’s La Madonnina winery is located near Sassicaia, a cult brand in the wine world comparable to Ferrari in the realm of sports cars. The 70-hectare estate includes olive groves, vineyards, and a 29-room villa that boasts a swimming pool. The consultant for the winery is — yet again — renowned enologist Riccardo Cotarella.

In 2021, the Italian newspaper Domani reported that La Madonnina is owned by Nikolaev through Cyprus-based Cetrezza Trading, which in turn was owned by British Virgin Islands firm Cedar Circle Holding Limited, with Nikolaev listed as the beneficial owner. Cetrezza invested nearly €40 million in the Tuscan estate.

Cetrezza Trading also owns an 85% stake in the Enoteca Tognoni restaurant and wine boutique in the historic center of Livorno, which Nikolaev co-owned from 2019 to 2024. By 2023, Cetrezza’s financial filings stated that it “has no ties to Russia.” The current listed beneficiary is Magic Forest Trust, whose owners are undisclosed.

Total funding received from the EU: €135,599. The declared lack of ties to Russia helped La Madonnina receive €106,079 from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy fund, which supports small farmers, and €29,520 through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) for the installation of solar panels.

A NATO airfield and a winery for Igor Sechin’s adviser

Not far from the Artemio Franchi Stadium, at the registered legal address of La Madonnina — Via Dei Sette Santi 53 in Florence — stands an elegant three-story building. It houses the auditing firm Sbf Consulting, where Tommaso Francalanci has been overseeing the winery’s financial reporting since at least 2016. The same legal address and services of the same financial consultant are also used by another winery: Torre Civette.

Like La Madonnina, Torre Civette receives funding from the EU Agricultural Fund and subsidies for the installation of photovoltaic panels from the NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan). And, like La Madonnina, it is owned by the family of a Russian oligarch under sanctions: Roman Trotsenko.

Trotsenko is widely seen as a protégé of Igor Sechin. He began his ascent to the 56th spot on the Forbes list (with a net worth of $2.5 billion) in 2009, when he became president of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, whose board was chaired by Sechin.

In 2013, Trotsenko became Sechin’s adviser at Rosneft and until 2015 headed the Geneva branch of the company, Rosneft Overseas SA. Among his personal assets are the Federation Tower in Moscow City and AEON Corporation, which owns 22 regional airports across Russia and also abroad.

The most notable of these is Grosseto Airport in Tuscany, classified as a “dual-use facility.” While it accepts civilian charter flights and private jets, it primarily serves the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) and hosts Eurofighter Typhoon jets of the 4th Wing (4° Stormo).

According to a report by L’Espresso citing Italy’s corporate registry, a 35.26% stake in SEAM S.p.A. — the company operating Grosseto Airport — was held by Ilca Srl, a Florence-based firm owned since 2015 by Plutoworld Limited, a Cyprus-based entity whose ultimate beneficiary was none other than Roman Trotsenko. On the board of directors for the airport sits Tommaso Francalanci, the same accountant tied to both Torre Civette and La Madonnina.

On March 21, 2022, Roman Trotsenko’s wife, Sofiya Trotsenko, sold her 100% stake in Plutoworld to Irina Gorshkova. Armenian outlet Hetq described Gorshkova as a front for Trotsenko with regard to Neo Metals Holding Limited, which owns a gold mine in Armenia.

The link between Sofiya Trotsenko and Irina Gorshkova is corroborated by their friendship on the Russian social network VK.

The Torre Civette winery

The newly reshuffled Plutoworld entity holds a majority stake in Torre Civette, a company that owns a namesake winery and a large estate between Punta Ala and Cala Violina. The property includes 100 hectares of land, 20 real estate objects, and a 16th-century tower with a view of the sea.

An additional 9% stake in Torre Civette is held by Gleb Trotsenko — Roman’s son, who has been sanctioned by the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, but not by the European Union. Roman Trotsenko was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy in 2021 at the recommendation of then-Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, but just three years later, his name was added to nearly all major international sanctions lists. Nevertheless, sanctions have neither stripped him of his European assets nor prevented his businesses from receiving EU subsidies. In 2024, Torre Civette received €40,344 for the installation of solar panels.

Total funding received from the EU: €169,970.

Ex-senator Zavadnikov and Fattoria di Montemaggio

Valentin Zavadnikov joined RAO UES of Russia (Unified Energy Systems) at nearly the same time as Anatoly Chubais, serving as Deputy Chairman of the state-run energy company from 1998 to 2001 while overseeing restructuring and personnel policy. One of his projects involved assembling “turnkey” holding companies for sale to strategic investors.

In 2001, Zavadnikov left Chubais’s team and entered Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, serving as a senator there until 2012. While chairing the Committee on Industrial Policy, he maintained close ties with his old energy sector colleagues. Executives from Energostroyinvest-Holding even raced alongside him in a Mediterranean yachting regatta in the summer of 2008.

Zavadnikov made no secret of his business involvement: he was a major shareholder in alcohol giant Synergy (now Novabev Group) and co-owner of the Eco-System waste recycling operator.

According to an OCCRP investigation, Zavadnikov’s passion for yachting extended beyond sport. He was one of the major beneficiaries of the Troika Laundromat, a network of offshore companies run by Troika Dialog, a Russian investment bank.

Through Cypriot entities, the ex-senator held stakes in Synergy, paid for shares, and issued loans to waste companies. Via at least five companies in the “laundromat,” more than $137 million was spent on a winery, yacht races, and luxury superyachts like Celestial Hope and Quinta Essentia, both linked to him.

Due to the complexity of the offshore network, the source of most of the money remains unclear. However, in January 2008, the laundromat-linked company Purus received €3,000 from Roberta Transit, an entity used in tax fraud schemes that were uncovered by whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky shortly before his death in a Moscow detention center in 2009. The funds were immediately sent to Dutch yacht designer Rene van der Velden for work on the senator’s yacht.

The Fattoria di Montemaggio winery

Laundromat-linked companies also paid €28,000 for the wedding of Zavadnikov’s daughter Valeria on Capri, and €9,900 for her master’s degree in wine marketing and management at a Bordeaux business school. In 2007, the Cyprus-based company Deepline, which is also linked to Zavadnikov, purchased a controlling stake in the Fattoria di Montemaggio winery in Tuscany and extended an additional €4.5 million in loans over the next five years.

Valeria is listed as a member of the winery team on its website and remains a minority shareholder, holding 0.5% of the company’s share capital. The remaining 99.5% belongs to Kerin Capital Limited, whose beneficiaries are not disclosed.

Total funding received from the EU: €49,870, including €30,141 disbursed between 2022 and 2024.

Pharma tycoon Viktor Kharitonin and Monzio Compagnoni

Viktor Kharitonin is one of the oligarchs whose fortune has soared since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. He holds the 23rd spot in the 2025 ranking of Russian billionaires, with a net worth of $7.5 billion. Kharitonin began his career in the 1990s at Profit House, an investment firm that helped Roman Abramovich’s networks acquire shares in Russia’s state-owned airline Aeroflot, as well as in energy and oil companies.

Later, Abramovich financed major deals for Kharitonin, including the purchase of biotech company Biocad from its founder Dmitry Morozov and Gazprombank, and the acquisition of five Russian plants from U.S.-based ICN, which became the foundation of Pharmstandard.

Business media have long made note of Kharitonin’s close ties to former Health Minister Tatyana Golikova and her husband, Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko — suggesting that government connections played a role in Kharitonin’s rise to fortune.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Kharitonin has been aggressively acquiring new assets. In 2023, he bought 11 factories from the German brand Henkel, which exited the Russian market. In 2025, he acquired the Kotlas Chemical Plant, which produces paints, coatings, and goods for the oil and gas and road construction sectors.

However, some assets proved controversial. Current Time reported that Kharitonin holds a stake in the L’Etoile cosmetics chain. His interests there are represented by Vladimir Semenda and Alexey Kokarev. L’Etoile operated in both Russia and Ukraine, and after the invasion, it faced backlash in both markets.

The beauty retailer quickly found a buyer for its Ukrainian stores: Philippe Benasson, a longtime French business partner. However, shared management structures suggest the deal may have been nominal.

The Monzio Compagnoni winery

In 2021, Viktor Kharitonin acquired 95% of the Monzio Compagnoni winery in Franciacorta, northern Italy, between Bergamo and Brescia — an area renowned for producing Italy’s finest sparkling wines. The winery owns 21 hectares of vineyards and produces about 220,000 bottles annually.

According to Domani, Kharitonin continued his Italian expansion even after the war began. His business associates Andrey Toporov and Dmitry Kunz acquired the Lajadira and Ampezzo hotels as well as the Camineto di Cortina restaurant, and were planning a heliport in the same area slated to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“Gorbushka” owner Alexander Milyavsky and Mansalto

United Russia party member Alexander Milyavsky is better known as a businessman than as a politician. He built the foundation of his wealth by acquiring, heading, and selling off the assets of Moscow’s Rubin television plant, on whose territory he developed the Gorbushkin Dvor shopping mall. Born in Minsk, Milyavsky graduated from the Minsk Radio Engineering Institute and later received a second degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). His first business experience came in 1989 with a contract from the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs to produce caller ID phones with additional features

Telecommunications would remain a key focus of his business empire. In 1997, Milyavsky acquired a stake in OJSC Moscow Television Plant “Rubin” and joined its board of directors. According to him, he bought the shares cheaply and over the following years became the majority shareholder and chairman of the board. Under his leadership, the once-iconic Rubin, which produced the Soviet Union’s first color TVs, split into two branches. TV production was moved to Voronezh, and on the freed-up factory grounds, Milyavsky built one of Moscow’s largest malls at the time — Gorbushkin Dvor. Later, he added another major commercial project: the Filyon Mall, a 90,000-square-meter shopping center built on the site of the former Extract-Fili factory.

Many of these deals occurred between 2005 and 2018 — at a time when Milyavsky was an MP at the Moscow City Duma, a role that barred him from taking part in any business activity. He served as deputy chairman of the commission on strategic development and urban planning, as well as a member of the commission on state property and land use. Milyavsky actively used his parliamentary role to lobby for his own interests, such as pushing for anti-piracy legislation and disadvantaging competitors.

Gorbushkin Dvor’s main competitor was the open-air electronics market “Gorbushka,” located on the outer side of the Rubin factory on Barklaya Street. In 2007, the Dorogomilovsky interdistrict prosecutor's office of Moscow’s Western District launched an inspection of ZAO “Aurum-Invest.” The investigation was initiated by Deputy Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Andrey Metelsky.

Milyavsky’s administrative resources extended beyond Moscow. In 2008, Ural Latypov, a former KGB lieutenant colonel and head of a KGB academy department in Minsk (whose alumni include Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev), became the head of “Direct Management,” the company managing Rubin. According to a report by business publication Vedomosti, Latypov represented the interests of Yuri and Alexey Khotin, businessmen close to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. In the summer of 2011, Milyavsky sold Rubin to the Khotins, marking the second-largest commercial real estate deal in Moscow that year.

Another longstanding associate from Milyavsky’s Minsk days was Upendro Mahata, a Nepali businessman who later represented Russia in Nepal’s Chamber of Commerce and served as honorary consul of Nepal in Belarus. Milyavsky's primary international asset, the telecoms holding Timeturns, began operations in Nepal in 2007.

Through Cypriot-based Timeturns Holdings, Milyavsky and Nepali entrepreneur Samata Prasad invested in mobile networks across Africa and Asia.

Despite all of the above, Milyavsky kept his mandate as an MP until 2018.

The Mansalto winery

The former United Russia MP has become one of the largest landowners of Belarusian origin in Italy, with his Tuscan holdings spanning over 2,000 hectares. The Mansalto estate includes a namesake winery, two villas, 60 hectares of vineyards, olive groves, and three guesthouses with 17 apartments.

True to his political instincts, Milyavsky registered the property via a complex structure of shell companies, with his relatives listed as beneficiaries.

The website of Metric Finance Enterprises Ltd not only describes the Tuscan estate, but also a range of other projects: an 11-story center on 196 Orchard Street in New York, two mansions in Belgravia, London, another 10-story residential building in New York, and GAIA restaurants in Dubai and Monaco.

EU subsidies received: €179,593, including: €132,662 from the EU Common Agricultural Policy Fund, €35,782 from the Chianti Classico producers’ consortium, and €11,149 from the National Rural Network (RNA).

Putin's friends' top wine merchant: Maksim Kashirin

Businessmen Maksim Kashirin and Anatoly Korneev are the founders of Simple Group, one of Russia’s largest wine importers. Their company sells wine in retail stores, restaurants, B2C, and via 105 of their own wine boutiques. In 2023, Simple reported 31.6 billion rubles ($396.4 million) in net revenue.

Over time — and especially after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — the importer of top Italian and French estates began collaborating with more and more wineries owned by Russian elites who had fallen under sanctions. Among Russian distributors, Simple now has the largest wine portfolio tied to Putin’s inner circle. It includes:

• Riecine, owned by Gleb Frank (Gennady Timchenko’s son-in-law)
• Zolotaya Balka, linked to Magnitsky-list figure Artem Zuyev
• Valery Zakharyin, a nominee of Yuri Kovalchuk
• Mezyb, owned by Patriarch Kirill
• Shumrinka, owned by Putin’s palace architect Lanfranco Cirillo
• Mantra, owned by Minister Denis Manturov and Rostec chief Sergey Chemezov
• Alma Valley, owned by VTB head Andrey Kostin
• Skalisty Bereg, owned by Russia’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev

Simple even launched a co-branded line of wines with Medvedev’s estate: five “Renome”-brand wines released exclusively through Kashirin’s company.

There are at least two major red flags putting the company at sanctions risk. Simple distributes wine not only across internationally recognized regions of Russia, but also in the occupied territories of Ukraine — with stores in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Mariupol. Since 2023, over 20 brands from the Simple portfolio have appeared in Spirits Tobacco Market stores in Donetsk, Makiivka, Mariupol, Khartsyzk, Berdyansk, Shaktarsk, and Chystiakove. Revenues at Simple’s Rostov subsidiary (LLC Simple RND, ООО «Симпл РНД») have more than tripled during the war — from 231 million rubles ($2.9 million) in 2021 to 756 million ($9.5 million) in 2024.

Simple is also implicated in sanctions evasion schemes involving banned alcohol imports from the EU, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. Since 2022, those countries have prohibited alcohol exports to Russia, and the EU included wine priced over €300 per bottle as part of its luxury sanctions.

Nonetheless, Simple continues to receive premium wine shipments worth millions via European intermediaries. Customs data shows that from March 2022 to December 2024, Simple Group’s S-Imports LLC brought in $1.9 million in U.S. wines and bourbons, $3.3 million in Australian wines, and $11 million in New Zealand wines. A key supplier of this sanctioned alcohol was the Swiss company LBSC GmbH, where Kashirin is a director and the owner is Russia’s Simple Group LLC.

The effectiveness of EU luxury sanctions appears questionable, given that Simple’s website lists hundreds of wines retailing for thousands of euros. The top 10 wines from Europe range in price from around €7,530 to €21,530:

1. Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 2018, 6L – 1,999,990 rubles
   
2. Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 2017, 6L – 1,999,990 rubles
   
3. Petrus 2012, 0.75L – 1,499,990 rubles
   
4. Ornellaia 2017, 6L – 1,299,990 rubles
   
5. Ornellaia 2018, 6L – 1,114,990 rubles
   
6. Sassicaia 2005, 3L – 899,990 rubles
   
7. Château Palmer 1990, 3L – 849,990 rubles
   
8. Sassicaia 2018, 3L – 799,990 rubles
   
9. Château Léoville Las Cases 2001, 5L – 779,990 rubles
   
10. Château Latour 2005, 1.5L – 699,990 rubles
    

In an effort to circumvent customs regulations, export documents understated the declared value of wines priced over €300. And many more bottles of expensive wine were shipped from Europe via Belarusian alcohol importer Noyaks Corporation LLC, which operates a modest chain of 26 wine boutiques under the Vino&Vino brand.

For example, in December 2024, S-Imports received three magnums of Sassicaia 2021, declared at a total of €657.57 — despite the average retail price of a single 0.75L bottle being €301. Just two days later, S-Imports accepted a shipment of 84 bottles of Sassicaia 2005 (0.75L) with a declared value of €26,321 — this time with a Belarusian company listed as the sender. The close proximity in dates and nearly identical product categories strongly suggests that a single shipment was split into smaller ones to avoid customs inspection.

The Bertinga winery

Through LBSC GmbH — a company involved in evading international sanctions — Maksim Kashirin and Anatoly Korneev own the Bertinga winery in Tuscany. The winery’s management includes Korneev himself and Denis Kashirin, Maksim’s son. Founded in 2015, Bertinga was conceived as a luxury wine project from the outset. The founders acquired 30 hectares of vineyards in some of the finest terroirs of Gaiole in Chianti, and hired renowned Bordeaux enologist Stéphane Derenoncourt as a consultant. Bertinga’s wines have received praise from international wine critics, and in March 2025, the estate was named to the Top 100 list by Forbes Italia.

Total funding received from the EU: €120,037, of which €47,547 was allocated between 2022 and 2024.

This investigation was carried out with the support of Journalismfund Europe. Data from RuPEP was used in the preparation of the investigation.