Entrepreneur Boris Usherovich, who made his fortune through corrupt deals with Russian Railways and fled the country after a criminal case, now makes a living by helping Russian state-owned companies evade sanctions, The Insider has discovered. He conducts his business, in part, through the Communication Systems Development Center (CSDC) LLC, which until recently was owned by Ilya Plotitsa, a relative and business partner of Usherovich.

Usherovich is one of Russian Railways’ largest private contractors, implicated in the corruption case against Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko (the businessman paid large bribes to a high-ranking police officer). The Central Research and Development Center (CRSS) conducts business with Engineering Center for Automation (ECA), a subsidiary of the 1520 Group of Companies, of which Usherovich remains a 28% shareholder.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs database, Usherovich remains wanted. It has been reported that he is hiding in the UK. However, this hasn’t stopped him from continuing to misappropriate funds from government contracts and finance Putin’s party, both personally and through proxies. For example, in February 2024, during Vladimir Putin’s election campaign, 43.3 million rubles were transferred from the CRSS to United Russia accounts. The same firm, according to The Insider, finances the United Russia-controlled "Prospective Cooperation" foundation: in 2023, the CRSS donated 50 million rubles to the foundation. This foundation was established by another foundation, "Regional Platform," led by Alexander Yakunin of United Russia. Money from the "Prospective Cooperation" accounts is transferred to United Russia organizations, such as the organizations of political strategist and State Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev. Among other things, Usherovich is involved in the Solntsevskaya organized crime group.

NPP ICA imports electronic products via Hong Kong and China. In addition to Plotitsa’s company, it sells to other Russian Railways contractors, including those affiliated with 1520.

Usherovich runs a business with the Rotenberg brothers (some attribute his initial conflict with them to his criminal prosecution). According to The Insider’s sources, he has connections to high-ranking GRU officers, and may funnel money to the West by inflating the prices of equipment imported by his Russian companies. He has businesses in Cyprus , Spain , and other countries.

Plotitsa also has businesses in Cyprus. According to extracts from the Cypriot registry obtained by The Insider, the telecommunications companies Broxner PLC and Venisat Technology are registered to his brother-in-law, Alexander. These Cypriot companies are involved in equipment supplies to Russia. Specifically, Broxner exported goods to Expolux LLC, which acts as an intermediary between the Cypriot company and Plotitsa’s Central Russian Railways.

The Bishkek-based company Akforta is also used to supply equipment from the Israeli manufacturer ECI TELECOM. In 2023 and 2024, Akforta shipped goods to Russia via the UAE, Latvia, and Lithuania.

According to The Insider, dozens of Russian clients of the Central Russian Railways (CRSS) work for Russian Railways, other state-owned companies, and the defense sector. The beneficiaries of these sanctions-busting schemes live in Cyprus and London.

Maria Sharapova