A scandalous Ural oligarch was detained while trying to leave Russia.
Konstantin Strukov, the deputy chairman of the Chelyabinsk Legislative Assembly, tried to leave Russia despite a court injunction. As Kommersant has learned, he was going to fly from Chelyabinsk to Turkey on July 5 on a personal business jet Bombardier (registration number RA-67131) worth over $50 million. However, Rosaviatsia banned the takeoff of the vessel, which was ready to take off and which bailiffs had previously seized. On board, the bailiffs seized Mr. Strukov’s foreign passport, which by that time had already been canceled by the migration service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
As Kommersant previously reported, on July 2, the Sovetsky District Court of Chelyabinsk imposed a number of interim measures within the framework of a lawsuit filed by the General Prosecutor’s Office, in particular, prohibiting Mr. Strukov and his family members from traveling abroad. The Prosecutor General’s Office is seeking to seize Mr. Strukov’s assets as corrupt.
It should be recalled that the Prosecutor General’s Office demands to seize from Konstantin Strukov shares and stakes in 11 companies, including the largest gold mining company – PJSC Yuzhuralzoloto Group of Companies (PJSC Yuzhuralzoloto, formerly Yuzhuralzoloto). According to the supervisory authorities, using his status, he took possession of the gold mining and coal mining enterprises, registering the assets on his daughters, as well as persons under his control.
According to law enforcement agencies, Strukov helped his family members to acquire citizenship of several European countries. In particular, his daughter Alexandra Strukov is a Swiss citizen and does not live in Russia, despite the fact that she is listed as the owner of a number of legal entities in the Urals. Mr. Strukov himself has his own hotel business in Montenegro, and his wife owns a commercial company in Serbia. According to the law enforcement and tax authorities, Mr. Strukov’s main financial flows received in Russia are then sent to unfriendly countries.
On July 2, officers of the Federal Security Service and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted searches in the offices of PJSC YuGK and its affiliated organizations within the framework of a criminal case on violation of environmental legislation, industrial safety and operation of industrial facilities. According to Kommersant, the case has been initiated only on the basis of fact, and Mr. Strukov does not appear in any capacity in it.
Earlier, he said he had no intention of hiding from law enforcement agencies. “I am at work, working quietly. … I am not going to hide, I have nowhere to go,” he said in a conversation with TASS.
At the same time, he refused to comment on the lawsuit of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to recover his assets for the state.
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Konstantin Strukov – Deputy Chairman of the Chelyabinsk City Council and the main owner of Yuzhuralzoloto (Yuzhuralzoloto Group of Companies, YuGK) did not try to leave Russia, he was not detained. This is stated in the report of YuGK, received by RBC.
The representative of the company said that during Saturday afternoon Konstantin Strukov was at his workplace in the office of YuGK in Moscow.
“No investigative measures were taken against him, he was not detained”, – said in the company’s report.