Leaked documents highlight oligarch Roman Abramovich's relationship with two men called "portfolios" of President Vladimir Putin. The former Chelsea Football Club owner has been sanctioned by the UK and the EU, but has previously denied any financial ties to the Russian leader. Documents leaked from Cyprus show new evidence linking him to a secret $40 million deal in 2010. The BBC reports that Mr Abramovich did not respond to requests for comment.
The secret deal transferred shares of a highly profitable Russian advertising company, Video International, for less than they were worth from companies owned by Mr Abramovich to two members of Mr Putin's inner circle. They in turn received millions of dollars in dividends.
The global investigation was carried out by BBC Night, BBC Verify and Panorama in collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism to highlight the revelations as part of Cyprus Confidential and was led by reporters at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Paper Trail Media.
Confidential records reveal that one of the people involved in the secret deal was Sergei Roldugin, a close friend of the Russian president. He is the artistic director of the House of Music in St. Petersburg. Roldugin has known Vladimir Putin since they were young in St. Petersburg and is reported to have known Lyudmila Shkrebneva, whom the future president married in 1983 (they are now divorced). Mr. Roldugin is the godfather of their first daughter, Maria.
President Putin's second closest associate is Alexander Plekhov, a biochemist-turned-businessman, also from St. Petersburg.
Mr. Roldugin and Mr. Plekhov have both been accused of being "wallets" for President Putin, secretly holding money and assets on his behalf.
Mr. Plekhov has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom government and Mr. Roldugin has also been sanctioned by the UK, EU and US, which describe him as a "custodian of President Putin's offshore assets".
The Cyprus Confidential Inquiry is based on 3.6 million confidential corporate records from companies providing offshore services in Cyprus and has focused on its close financial ties to Russia and sanctioned oligarchs, many of whom have used the island to manage their secret offshore properties.
MeritServus also worked with Mr. Abramovich in Cyprus. The oligarch's fortune is more than $9 billion and he has made numerous public investments in sports, art and high-value real estate. He became one of the most well-known and influential Russian oligarchs in the United Kingdom after buying Chelsea FC in London in 2003.
He has played down his relationship with President Putin and challenged suggestions of a close financial relationship or that he acted on behalf of the Russian leader.
In 2021 he sued journalist Catherine Belton over a passage in her book, Putin's People, referring to evidence alleging that he had bought Chelsea FC in 2003 at the behest of President Putin. The case was settled out of court with a settlement. The UK and EU placed Abramovich under sanctions in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (A2 Televizion)
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