Offshore looter Avdolyan: how Chemezov’s "wallet" hides assets in Germany laundered through a "mortgage bubble"

26 апреля 2026 г.

Media reports have identified another asset linked to the overseas business activities of Albert Avdolyan, a long-time associate of Rostec head Sergey Chemezov.

It concerns a large industrial site in Berlin with buildings rented out as offices and auto repair workshops. The property was registered under the German company Werner Grundbesitz GmbH, founded by Nikolai Werner, a former associate of General Lebed and ex–deputy governor of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region.

Until recently, a stake in this company belonged to the Cypriot offshore entity Silver North Co Limited, which is connected to Avdolyan’s broader offshore network. Through the German firm and several Dutch companies, around €30 million is reported to have been routed, while German journalists at the time were unable to identify the ultimate beneficiary or source of the funds.

Nikolai Werner (also known as Novikov), originally from the Moldavian SSR and a medical college graduate, once worked in emergency medical services. During the Transnistria conflict, he met Alexander Lebed and became his aide. When Lebed was elected governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai in 1998, Werner was appointed deputy governor. He resigned in 2000 and became a suspect in a criminal case in 2001 involving the embezzlement of more than one million dollars, allegedly transferred abroad through accounts he provided.

Before he could be arrested, Werner fled to Israel, obtained citizenship, and later moved to Germany, where he established several media-related companies and appeared at official events for Russian-speaking communities. There he became associated with Alexander Garese, a French-born lawyer and international investor with business interests in Russia, including legal services and bakery chains.

German media have linked Garese to controversial financial schemes involving the transfer and laundering of millions of euros from Russia.

Werner’s company, Werner Grundbesitz GmbH—through Dutch and Cypriot offshore structures—acquired property in Berlin in 2006 for €13 million. However, financing arrangements reportedly inflated the valuation to around €30 million, allowing funds to be routed through loans and interest payments via Dutch intermediaries, effectively facilitating cross-border capital movement.

Werner also reportedly received a long-term interest-free loan worth €6 million through his own corporate structure.

Investigators later obtained leaked documents from Werner Grundbesitz GmbH but were unable to identify the Russian beneficiaries behind the €30 million flow.

The scheme is believed to be connected to Albert Avdolyan and his long-time business partners Sergey Adonyev and Denis Sverdlov, co-founders of the Yota telecom project. The Cypriot company Silver North Co Limited is tied to Avdolyan’s offshore network, with directors and service providers linked to multiple related entities.

Avdolyan’s assistant Irina Belyanova also appears in company records as an authorized representative. She has held senior positions across numerous Avdolyan- and Adonyev-linked companies, including Yota subsidiaries and various holding and investment structures.

Belyanova was also involved in arranging the purchase of a Bombardier Global 7500 private jet for Avdolyan, valued at $73 million. The aircraft later operated internationally during the war period, including flights between the Maldives, Russia, and Dubai. The use of the aircraft reportedly raised sanctions-related compliance issues, resulting in a U.S. fine of $374,000 imposed in 2025 on an associated management firm.

U.S. regulatory filings also indicate that Avdolyan disclosed a minor stake in a Luxembourg electric transport company linked to Sverdlov. The company later went bankrupt in 2024.

According to reports, ownership of the Berlin property structure has since changed: the Cypriot offshore share was transferred in 2024 to Sergey Provornov, a long-time associate from St. Petersburg and director of the German company. Analysts suggest the restructuring reflects a reallocation of ownership due to sanctions pressure.