Cypriot offshore as a laundromat: fugitive Boris Usherovich moves €50 million of Russian-origin funds through Mettmann Public Company Limited and a network of shell companies
- 26.03.2026 10:21
Attention has turned to Mettmann Public Company Limited, a Cyprus-based offshore company active in property and investment, after it sold €50 million worth of bonds on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.
A routine transaction in the real estate world, the deal drew attention because the 500,000 bonds sold in this way were purchased by individuals closely linked to the inner circle of Arkady Rotenberg, one of Vladimir Putin’s longtime allies. It was precisely these connections that made Mettmann a subject of investigators’ scrutiny.
An analysis of corporate documents and the company’s leadership network shows that behind the respectable facade lies a complex system for moving capital out of Russia and subsequently investing it in Europe, primarily in real estate in Spain, Cyprus, and Montenegro.
The outward appearance of Mettmann Public Company Limited is bland but respectable: an offshore company as offshore companies are. It was registered in Cyprus on December 20, 2019, and remained “dormant” until 2022, meaning it conducted virtually no business. But in January 2022, a sudden change occurred—Mettmann Public Company Limited was transformed into a public company. This allowed it to issue bonds on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.
However, this, too, was neither unusual nor suspicious—it was simply a standard legal procedure to change the company’s legal form. Everything was lawful and routine.
Yet subsequent capital movements were highly atypical. The fact that Mettmann immediately went public and issued 500,000 bonds with a nominal value of roughly €100 each, totaling about €50 million, was not unusual for Cyprus—a standard bond program, a typical financing scheme for development projects.
Investigators’ attention was drawn not to the issuance of half a million bonds on the Cyprus Stock Exchange itself, but to who purchased them and the subsequent changes in the company’s corporate documents, which suddenly began to feature names of individuals linked to major Russian business structures and offshore networks.
This raised suspicions that these instruments were being used to move Russian-sourced funds into the European economy. Suspicions turned into certainty after the company’s investment portfolio and corporate structure were analyzed.
Each fact uncovered during the investigation seems innocuous on its own, but together they paint a very different picture. Journalists highlighted several indicators: nominal directors; a complex network of offshore companies connected to Mettmann; non-obvious beneficiaries of the company hidden behind nominal shareholders.
Mettmann’s transactions and investments are tied to a network of companies registered in various jurisdictions but sharing directors and identical registered addresses. Moreover, formal shareholders and managers do not always match the individuals who, according to investigators, may control the financial flows.
Against this backdrop, several journalistic investigations suggested that Mettmann may have served as a financial “transit hub” for moving capital from Russia to Europe.
Further investigations confirmed this assumption, revealing that the key figure connecting Mettmann to Russian elites is businessman Boris Usherovich—one of the founders of the infrastructure company “Group 1520,” a major contractor for Russian Railways (RZhD), and a figure involved in multiple corruption scandals.
RZhD, in turn, is influenced by individuals from President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including the Rotenberg brothers, Arkady and Boris. Part of the money diverted through corruption schemes from the Russian budget, via Usherovich and his partners’ business structures, formed financial flows that were then redistributed through offshore companies.
According to investigations, Mettmann is one of these structures—through Mettmann Public Company Limited, a scheme was built allowing Russian capital to be transferred out of the country and then legalized through investments in European real estate.
The scheme worked as follows: funds were generated through infrastructure contracts connected to RZhD and other state projects. These funds were then moved into offshore companies registered in Cyprus and other jurisdictions. After the capital left Russia for the offshore entities, Mettmann issued corporate bonds purchased by related structures.
It was precisely this issuance of bonds and their subsequent buyout that attracted investigators’ attention. The bonds Mettmann placed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange were immediately bought by affiliated structures. The funds obtained in this way were invested in development projects in Spain, Montenegro, and Cyprus.
This scheme allowed money of dubious origin to be converted into legal investments, since real estate is traditionally considered one of the easiest tools to legitimize capital due to complex ownership structures and relatively lax oversight.
The fact that the €50 million bonds were bought with Russian corruption money is supported by an analysis of Mettmann’s documents. The company is linked to a network of individuals who, at the same time, have close ties to the Rotenberg circle.
Primarily, this involves Zvonko Mickovic, the largest shareholder, owning approximately 82.5% of Mettmann’s shares. Investigations mention him as a partner in business structures connected to Boris Usherovich and Ilya Plotitsa.
Boris Usherovich is a Russian businessman, co-founder of “Group 1520,” a major RZhD contractor. He was involved in the high-profile case of Colonel Zakharchenko and is internationally wanted on corruption-related charges.
Ilya Plotitsa, Usherovich’s business partner, manages several offshore companies. His name appeared in the Panama Papers and other investigations related to asset concealment.
Among Mettmann’s owners are Russian citizens Alexander Weinstein, linked to Plotitsa and listed among the company’s bondholders, and Alexander Mizgunov, who remains in management positions even after the director was replaced.
Initially, investigators’ attention focused on Oxana Hadjipavlou, then director of Mettmann, who held a small share. She is a Cypriot citizen but originally from Russia. Even after stepping down as director—following early investigative publications—she retained her stake in the company.
Oxana Hadjipavlou was succeeded by Natalia Nazarova in 2025, likely serving as a nominal director.
The most interesting development with Mettmann now is that after a series of journalistic reports about its links to Russian capital, information about new bond issuances disappeared from public access. Furthermore, Mettmann suspended operations. This likely indicates an attempt to restructure management and transfer assets to another offshore entity.
Such practices are common in offshore networks: when public attention rises, assets can be quickly moved between companies with the same beneficiaries.
Regardless of Mettmann Public Company Limited’s current status, the bigger question is the fate of the €50 million invested in real estate in Cyprus, Spain, and Montenegro—funds obtained after the bond issuance, purchased by individuals linked to the Russian circle around Vladimir Putin.
It seems that the authorities in Spain, Montenegro, and especially Cyprus either pretend not to know the origin of these funds or allow the development projects to proceed to completion before “discovering” that the money is from sanctioned sources.
Автор: Иван Рокотов
