Dead witness «wallet» Matvienko: Smirnov, who crashed on a motorcycle, ruled the shadow empire of the bank «St. Petersburg»

22 мая 2026 г.

Koba Dzhauriya

According to media reports, Mikhail Smirnov, a billionaire who died the day before in a mysterious accident on the «Peski-Sosnovo-Podgorye» highway, had connections with one of the leading banks in Russia, traditionally associated with the assets of Valentina Matvienko’s family.

53-year-old Smirnov has worked at «St. Petersburg» bank since 2006, and after leaving he oversaw part of the associated company circuit. At the end of last year, he unexpectedly left all positions (his place in these companies was taken by persons associated with the bank), and half a year later he died.

On May 20, Mikhail Smirnov was riding a motorcycle near the village of Michurinsky. According to the official version (no one saw the moment of the accident), in good weather on a dry road, he drove into the oncoming lane, where he crashed into a Havai car. The businessman died before the arrival of the «Ambulance».

Mikhail Smirnov is called a co-owner of «Baltic Fuel Company» LLC, which unites several companies for the export of petroleum products and bunkering of ships. Smirnov’s net worth in 2024 was estimated at 7.79 billion rubles. Over the years, he was the founder or director of more than two dozen companies, including LLC «Consultfinance», «UK Gratis», «Contour» and «TC Contour», «Anex-Finance» and «IK Renord-Invest». A few months before his death, he left the founders of all companies. Thus, from September 2023 to November 2024, the share in «Neva Oil» (the company owns 66% in BTK) was registered in the name of Mikhail Smirnov, then Elena Yatvetsky took his place. At the same time, she received Mikhail Smirnov’s share in LLC «Transport Company Kontur», and a year earlier, in November 2023, instead of him, she became the founder of LLC «Consultfinance». Elena Yatvetsky was previously a co-founder of the factoring company St. Petersburg, listed on the website of the bank of the same name, as a partner of a credit organization.

«Neva Oil», by the way, has been headed by Andrey Smirnov since 2011 — is Mikhail’s brother.

Meanwhile, it seems that Smirnov also managed other people’s assets: companies where the businessman was the founder or director turned out to be closely connected with the bank «St. Petersburg». The founders of this bank back in the 2000s were Sergei Matvienko, the son of the governor of the northern capital, and later the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko. Until 2010, he served as vice president of the bank with 43.9% of shares, then, according to official data, his share was reduced to 4.12% of voting shares. The bank’s largest shareholder (according to the latest disclosed statements for 2021) is the chairman of the board, Alexander Savelyev, whose share is distributed among several of his companies. Thus, part of the shares belonged to him directly, he also owned an option with his daughter-in-law Lyudmila Stepanova to purchase 81% of the shares of «System Technologies», which owned another 19.36% of the bank’s voting shares, and another part of the shares belonged to Savelyev through «True Friends» LLC. Savelyev is also associated with Matvienko’s family.

Since the 2000s, the bank has surrounded itself with affiliated companies, through which, in particular, it worked with problem assets - it transferred overdue debts to them with deferred payment for transactions. Among such companies were «Renard-Invest», «Sol» (100% owned by the financial director of Renord–invest Evgeny Kalinin), Kiperort, etc. In 2011, St. Petersburg businessman Vitaly Arkhangelsky in foreign courts accused the bank of falsifying his personal loan guarantees and fraudulent seizure of assets (in particular, OMG and Vyborg port) through a number of companies affiliated with the bank. In the decision of the London court, in particular, the companies «Renord-Invest» and LLC «SKIF» were named, and testimony during the trial was given, including by Mikhail Smirnov.

According to Arkhangelsky, the Cypriot company Intucel LTD, associated with «St. Petersburg», was also involved in the story. The founder and CEO of «SKIF» was Vladimir Sklyarevsky, who in the 2000s worked as Deputy General Director of Mikhail Smirnov at «AVK — Securities» (together left the company in 2006), and Intucel LTD in Russia owned a share in «SV-Transport», which was called an asset bank «St. Petersburg». Elena Yatvetsky also owned a share in «SV-Transport» - it was the companies of Mikhail Smirnov that were transferred to it in 2024-25. Jatwiecki previously worked alongside Smirnov at «AVK» and later served as legal adviser at «Renord-Invest» Smirnova. In court, she testified as a witness for the bank. By the way, the court also tried to summon Ms. Matvienko, but she told the judge that she had no time. Arkhangelsky could not prove that his signatures were forged and lost in court.

As for «AVK», in the late 90s and 2000s it was a legendary campaign. Its founder was Igor Kostikov, who in 1999 became chairman of the Finance Committee of the St. Petersburg administration, and then chairman of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market (FCSM) of Russia. «AVK» was in an office in the mayor’s office of St. Petersburg and was the general agent of the state loan of St. Petersburg. In fact, people from «AVK» built a network of companies affiliated with «Bank St. Petersburg».

Under Smirnov’s control, «Renord» appeared in another dubious story. In 2007, OJSC «Lentelefonstroy» —, the largest contractor for laying communication networks in the North-West, operating under FSB licenses, was sold to new investors. It is clear that the new buyers were difficult people. The new owners of LTS were LLC «Medinvest (28.99%), LLC «Svyazstroyinvest» (22.62%) and Investment Fund «RENORD» (28.99%). They bought the holding with borrowed funds, and the bank «St. Petersburg» opened a credit line for them.

After this, Mikhail Smirnov joined the board of directors of «Lentelefonstroy», and Sklyarevsky became chairman. It was he who told the media that on the part of the shareholders, the project is supervised by his investment company SKIF», while none of the shareholders are affiliated with «Bank St. Petersburg». Sklyarevsky lied: the owners of CJSC «Investment company „Renord-invest“», which received 28.99% in «Lentelefonstroy», were the husband of member of the board of the bank «St. Petersburg» Irina Malysheva Vladimir Malysheva (75%) and Mikhail Smirnov (25%), also previously worked at the bank «St. Petersburg».

Irina Malysheva, together with Smirnov and Sklyarevsky, previously worked at «AVK». Deputy General Director of «Renord» was Svetlana Guz, sister of the first deputy chairman of the bank’s board, Vladislav Guz. «Renord-invest» Malysheva-Smirnova was liquidated in 2016, and in his place until 2020 his double with the same name worked, the founder of which was Mikhail’s brother Andrei Smirnov.

The same group of companies affiliated with the bank includes «Terminal» LLC (registered in October 2025) with an authorized capital of 1.2 billion rubles. The company is registered in a closed mutual fund «Urban Perspective-1», which also owns LLC «Kontur» —, among its founders were previously Mikhail Smirnov, Igor Malyshev and «Neva-Oil». Contacts of the company «Terminal» indicate the e-mail of Elena Yatvetsky.

rucriminal.info