Shadow schemes of Moscow’s "sewage king": Aleksandr Ponomarenko is siphoning off money from the state budget
- 29.11.2024 08:05
The "sewage king" of Moscow, Aleksandr Ponomarenko, has built an international business empire using funds siphoned from the budget.
There are many materials online about the real estate owned by the head of "Mosvodokanal", located in Germany, France, and Slovakia. The owners include the civil partner of the capital official, Lyubov Komissarenko, and her son. The romantic partner claims that after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, she severed ties with Ponomarenko. This is unlikely, as business ties, strengthened by shared money, are sometimes stronger than family bonds. The alleged breakup with Aleksandr Ponomarenko does not relieve Komissarenko of suspicions of laundering "dirty" Russian money.
In Germany, Komissarenko owns the Riverside Square residential complex, located in Berlin on a site worth 22 million euros. The rental of housing in it is managed by Evanka Invest GmbH, a company founded by Ukrainian émigrés. Among the employees is Andrey Komissarenko.
In France, Komissarenko has as many as 4 properties: two villas on the Côte d’Azur, each costing 50 million euros, a house in Nice, and a château on the Mediterranean coast for 18 million euros. The value of several real estate properties in Bratislava is estimated at 35 million euros. It is not hard to calculate that all the abroad assets of the "sewage king," acquired through hard work, are worth over 200 million euros.
Other foreign assets of the Ponomarenko family include the French companies SCI Anastasia and Alexander et Fils and the Slovak companies KLP Development s.r.o. and Evanka s.r.o. The latter companies are managed by Miguel Garcia.
Through real estate, Lyubov Komissarenko and her son launder money earned by other family members of Aleksandr Ponomarenko. The owner of LLC "Laboratory GemoTest" Rudem Gaziev may also participate in illegal schemes. From 2015 to 2020, his company belonged to LLC "PKO Invest" of Natalia Ponomarenko, the official’s daughter.
In 2017, Rudem Gaziev told Forbes magazine about how he created his company and entered the medical testing market. He forgot to mention Ponomarenko’s company, which indicates that Gaziev may conduct business in the interests of Aleksandr Ponomarenko and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
If in 2017 LLC "Laboratory GemoTest" was second only to "Invitro," by 2023 it outperformed its competitor by five times in profit. It reached 1.9 billion rubles with a revenue of 12 billion rubles. In recent years, many "subsidiaries" of LLC "Laboratory GemoTest" have been operating at a loss, which may indicate money is being siphoned off from the companies. Significant sums are going astray, considering that there are about three dozen "subsidiaries." For example, LLC "GemoTest TsFO" recorded a revenue of 366 million rubles but suffered a loss of 215 million rubles, with losses of 168 million rubles in 2022 and 145 million rubles in 2021.
Aleksandr Ponomarenko’s daughter was previously the owner of over two dozen companies in the real estate market but withdrew from all assets except LLC "PKO Invest" from 2018 to 2023. Former companies of Natalia Ponomarenko now belong to her brother Maksim and other individuals who work for the family of the "sewage king."
For example, LLC "Troika Construction" was owned by Natalia Ponomarenko from 2014 to 2022, and the firm is now owned by Vitaliy and Viktoria Panamarenko, as well as Viktoria Veshkina. Vitaliy Panamarenko and LLC "Reinvest KO" are founders of LLC "Stroydesign," which received a revenue of 2.1 billion rubles and a profit of 196 million rubles in 2023. The owners of LLC "Reinvest KO" are Maksim Ponomarenko and Lyubov Komissarenko.
Currently, besides LLC "Reinvest KO," Komissarenko owns only two companies — LLC "Optima Invest" and LLC "Management Company on Smirnovskaya." In the past, however, the partner of the "sewage king" and keeper of his foreign assets owned about a dozen firms, of which 5 are currently active. Their total revenue in 2023 exceeds 4.5 billion rubles, with a profit of 250 million rubles.
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LLC "Sodruzhestvo Yap" was owned by Komissarenko from 2015 to 2023, and now Nikolay Serezhenkov owns the company. In 2016, it had two contracts with the state unitary enterprise "Mosvodostok," but no conflict of interest was noticed.
LLC "Dendrostroy" was owned by Komissarenko from 2019 to 2020, and now Dmitry Bayrakov is the director and sole shareholder of the company.
The main customers of LLC "Dendrostroy" are state structures of Moscow, but no one seems to mind, even though Ponomarenko and Komissarenko’s interests are clearly evident in the company. Apparently, after publications about the siphoning off of budget funds, the family accomplices of the "sewage king" began to cover their tracks and transfer assets to nominees. The head of "Mosvodokanal" also exited the capital of three companies in 2023.
The structures managed by his ex-wife Nina Klestova generated a revenue of 680 million rubles and a profit of 273 million rubles in 2023. Anastasia Ponomarenko’s companies brought in 2.6 billion rubles and 1.2 billion rubles respectively. Lyubov Komissarenko contributed 2.6 billion rubles and 2.7 billion rubles, Maksim Ponomarenko — 1.6 billion rubles and 1.4 billion rubles, Natalia Ponomarenko — 130 million rubles and 220 million rubles. The total profit is around 6 billion rubles, and this does not account for the money from companies that were transferred to nominees.
The family business empire brings Aleksandr Ponomarenko substantial profits, which can be invested in foreign properties. The main thing is to remember to share with his benefactor, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
