Prosecutors have uncovered a scheme to sell Domodedovo airport through offshore companies

On May 14, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region will hold the main hearings on the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office on the nationalization of Domodedovo airport. In 2016, its main owner, Dmitry Kamenshchik, bought Domodedovo's assets through foreign individuals and offshore companies, a law enforcement source told Izvestia.

Net money: the court will pass a verdict in the case of the laundered 6 billion OPS

The group included more than 30 people, including bank employees

Prosecutors have traced this chain — among the past and current owners of aerogavan are citizens of the Isle of Man and the Netherlands, offshore Cyprus and Malta. The beneficiaries needed such a scheme to disguise the status of the acquirer when buying up strategic assets, the prosecutors believe.

According to them, Dmitry Kamenshchik and his business partner Valery Kogan withdrew more than 36 billion rubles from Russia under the guise of paying debts to foreign creditors and for personal needs.

Foreign citizens are still part of the airport's management bodies, a law enforcement source told Izvestia. Such a scheme is contrary to the law of the Russian Federation, so the court will have every reason to recognize the airport purchase transactions as null and void and turn this asset into state revenue, the source believes.

The lawsuit, signed by Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Tkachev, states, in particular, that the main owner of the airport, Dmitry Kamenshchikov and Valery Kogan, are residents of foreign countries. Dmitry Kamenshchik holds Turkish and UAE citizenship, while Valery Kogan holds Israeli citizenship.

The Prosecutor General's Office believes that Dmitry Kamenshchik and Valery Kogan "used controlled offshore structures to conceal their status as purchasers when buying up strategic assets."

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Flight design: the court will consider the nationalization of Domodedovo