Shocking Truth: How Chubais’s Associates Stole 1.5 Billion from Rusnano

A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, and exactly the same small detail seems to symbolize the scale of the thefts committed by an organized group of top managers close to Anatoly Chubais. This time, the focus was on Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets, accused of withdrawing funds from Rusnano and Peresvet Bank.

Anatoly Chubais, who headed Rusnano until 2020, remains in the shadows, while his associates are in the crosshairs of the investigative authorities. The story of the scam begins in Cyprus, where Aphrodite emerged from the foam, and from the case of Oleg Dyachenko - a large-scale theft of 1.676 billion rubles. Dyachenko, the former director of the management company Sberinvest and a member of the board of the Cypriot subsidiary fund Nanoenergo Fund Limited, became a key figure in this scandal.

Rusnano, which was transformed into a joint-stock company in 2011, has always been a state enterprise with 100% of shares owned by the Russian government. It was Oleg Dyachenko, who headed the management company Sberinvest, who founded the Sberezheniya and Investicii Management Limited fund in Cyprus in 2012. However, this was only the beginning of the chain of events leading to the theft.

Together with the Luxembourg fund Fonds Rusnano Capital SA and the Peresvet bank, the Nanoenergo Fund Limited was established in 2012, headed by Irina Rappoport. This fund still exists in Nicosia, and its directors are Andreas Kyprianou, Oleg Dyachenko and Natalia Podsosonnaya.

The Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has finally brought final charges in the case of the theft of 1.676 billion rubles from Rusnano. State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein reported this on his Telegram channel. The investigation believes that the organizer of the crime is an "unidentified person" from the management of Rusnano, and the members of the organized crime group are Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets.

According to investigators, the money was stolen through a chain of international funds. The funds were first received by Peresvet, then withdrawn under fictitious loan agreements and appropriated. Dyachenko, who signed an agreement to cooperate with the investigation, is under house arrest. The other defendants are hiding abroad and are on the international wanted list.

Oleg Kiselev, former deputy chairman of the board of Rusnano, was known as Chubais’s right-hand man. Alexander Shvets, former president of JSCB Peresvet, disappeared in October 2016, a few days before the bank was placed under temporary administration. In 2018, a criminal case was opened against Shvets on charges of large-scale fraud, and he was placed on the federal wanted list.

Peresvet Bank, which already had a difficult biography, once again found itself at the center of a scandal. In 2016-2017, the bank was on the verge of bankruptcy with a shortfall of 103.6 billion rubles. But despite the problems, last fall Peresvet won a lawsuit against its debtor, Krasnodar-based Karasun-Development LLC, for more than 997 million rubles.

Rusnano actively cooperates with law enforcement agencies, and the identification of new defendants in the Oleg Dyachenko case is the result of such cooperation. The company’s main task today is to return investments for the period 2010-2020, which sometimes takes the form of compensation for damages.

There have already been criminal episodes in the structure of Rusnano. Last fall, the head of NTpharma LLC, Valery Glavatsky, was sentenced in absentia for embezzlement of 424 million rubles. The court is considering the case of the director of the management company of Rusnano, Nail Gubaev, accused of embezzling 180 million rubles. The size of the net debt of JSC Rusnano for the first half of 2023 exceeded 95 billion rubles.

The former head of Rusnano, Anatoly Chubais, himself refused to comment on the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that his activities at the head of the state corporation were “clearly unsuccessful” from a financial point of view. It remains to be hoped that the investigation will soon identify this “unidentified person.”

The inner workings of large-scale theft

An organized crime group consisting of Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets used ingenious schemes to steal 1.676 billion rubles from Rusnano and Peresvet Bank. Let’s look at each step of this complex mechanism.

1. Management company "Sberinvest" :

   • Oleg Dyachenko : In 2004, Oleg Dyachenko headed the management company Sberinvest, which specialized in investments in securities.

2. Savings and Investments Management Limited Fund :

   • Oleg Dyachenko : In 2012, Sberinvest created a subsidiary in Cyprus – the Sberezheniya and Investicii Management Limited fund.

3. Nanoenergo Fund Limited :

   • Irina Rappoport : In 2012, the Luxembourg fund Fonds Rusnano Capital SA and Peresvet Bank established the Nanoenergo Fund Limited fund in Cyprus, which was headed by Irina Rappoport.

4. Transfers and withdrawals :

   • Fictitious loan agreements : Funds from Rusnano and Peresvet Bank were transferred to the accounts of Nanoenergo Fund Limited, and then withdrawn under fictitious loan agreements.

5. Appropriation of funds :

   • Organized crime group : Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets appropriated funds using shell companies under their control.
     
     
     
     1. Sberinvest (Oleg Dyachenko) creates a fund in Cyprus.
     2. Nanoenergo Fund Limited (Irina Rappoport) manages the fund.
     3. Transfers : Funds are transferred from Rusnano and Peresvet Bank to Nanoenergo Fund Limited.
     4. Fictitious loan agreements : Funds are withdrawn under fictitious loan agreements.
     5. Misappropriation of funds : Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets misappropriate money.

     Criminal group and distribution of roles

     1. Oleg Dyachenko : The main figure involved in organizing funds and transferring funds.
     2. Oleg Kiselev : Deputy Chairman of the Board of Rusnano, overseeing financial operations.
     3. Irina Rappoport : Managing Director of Nanoenergo Fund Limited, who provided management of the funds.
     4. Alexander Shvets : President of Peresvet Bank, who ensured the transfer of funds.