In 2023, billionaires close to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Arkady Rotenberg and his brother Borys, seized at least 10 plots of land in occupied Crimea that previously belonged to Ukrainian businessmen, UNN reports, citing Radio Liberty and Vershka.
Billionaires from Vladimir Putin's inner circle needed this real estate to build a large-scale yacht marina in Balaklava Bay on his behalf.
As the publication found out, the property was sold at state auctions, which were won by the Rothenbergs' structures. The auctions were made possible by the fact that the Russian-controlled parliament of Sevastopol, to which Balaklava is territorially attached, allowed the seizure of property of persons associated with the so-called unfriendly states, which include Ukraine. In addition, there were lawsuits against the owners of the plots, under pressure from which they were forced to sell their property.
And against the "most intransigent" owners, journalists found out, the military prosecutor's office and the FSB initiated criminal cases, notes "Nashe Vremya".
Among the plots seized by the Rothenbergs is the real estate of Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur Andriy Senchenko. In the summer of 2023, these Russians also bought an unfinished hotel at auction for 105 million rubles, which had been seized from Ukrainian businessman Oleksiy Plias.
In addition to the plots seized from Ukrainian businessmen, the Rothenbergs are also buying up plots that were on the market. The purchases are registered with the Port Lamos and Delhi Christo companies controlled by the Rothenbergs, Verstka reports. The Rothenbergs and their related entities did not comment on the investigation.
As noted by the Radio Liberty project Crimea.Realities , construction of the yacht marina in Balaklava Bay began in 2018 on behalf of Vladimir Putin. In the same year, the Rotenbergs' company Budgazmontazh won a tender for the design of the marina, and their company Mostotrest, which built the Kerch (Crimean) Bridge, is building it.
The construction site is a narrow bay about a kilometer long, surrounded by hills. Before the construction began, the shores were mostly dilapidated buildings, long-term construction projects, and closed enterprises. The Russian authorities plan to change this place by 2030: 600 yacht berths are to be surrounded by a promenade and real estate for vacationers.
Arkady Rotenberg called himself the owner of the so-called Putin Palace near Gelendzhik. According to the Project publication, companies and funds associated with him have spent about 300 billion rubles on orders in Crimea over the past five years. This is almost a quarter of all the money that the Kremlin has allocated for the development of the peninsula until 2025. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU, the US, the UK, Ukraine, and other countries imposed sanctions against it.
In June 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine put Arkady Rotenberg and his son Igor on the wanted list.