Red-handed payment: IKEA's billion-dollar recipient is being tried for bribery
The military court is considering the fifth criminal case against the notorious businessman Konstantin Ponomarev. The entrepreneur, who more than 10 years ago received almost $1 billion under a settlement agreement with IKEA, is now accused of paying a particularly large bribe. According to investigators, in the spring and summer of 2025, he tried to arrange for 2 million rubles to be sent from the colony to the special military operation zone, hoping to avoid punishment in another criminal case.
However, as it turned out later, this scheme turned out to be meaningless. The Moscow City Court subsequently dismissed the case of embezzlement of bank bills, which Ponomarev feared, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Now, the businessman faces up to 15 years in prison on a new charge.
An unnecessary scam
According to the materials of the criminal case, Ponomarev expected to draw up the necessary documents to be sent to his home from the colony, where he is serving a 10-year sentence. According to investigators, participation in a special military operation would have allowed him to avoid further criminal prosecution in the case of embezzlement of bills of "Lesbank" for more than 1 billion rubles. It was this case that the Moscow City Court was finalizing at that moment.
According to the investigation, an employee of one of the Moscow military commissariats was supposed to help in the implementation of the plan.
The mediator, according to the case file, was Ruslan Korigov, who met Ponomarev during their stay in the colony. After meeting with him, an employee of the military enlistment office informed the management about the corrupt offer, after which further actions were already under the control of the operational services.
During the transfer of the money, Korigov was detained. According to Izvestia's sources, after his arrest, he began cooperating with the investigation and spoke in detail about the circumstances of the alleged corruption scheme.
The Main Military Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on September 5 last year. Konstantin Ponomarev was charged with paying a particularly large bribe, and Ruslan Korigov was charged with mediating the transfer of a bribe.
An employee of the military commissariat, to whom, according to investigators, the money was intended, was released from criminal liability after contacting law enforcement agencies and is now being investigated as a witness.
At the same time, the businessman's fears about harsh punishment for fraud with bank bills were not justified. Although Ponomarev was sentenced to 14 years in September 2025, four months later the Moscow City Court dismissed the fraud case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The city Court also released the businessman from serving his sentence.
In 2020, the Solnechnogorsk court sentenced a businessman to 10 years and two months for tax evasion in the amount of 9.7 billion rubles. But since these funds were paid, Ponomarev could count on parole in 2026.
In fact, the whole idea of a bribe turned out to be unnecessary for Ponomarev. As Izvestia's sources summarize, "he just picked up the deadline from the floor, there's no other way to say it."
A billion for fines and penalties
Konstantin Ponomarev became the focus of attention back in 2010, when he received almost 25 billion rubles under a settlement agreement with the Russian IKEA structure. At the exchange rate of that time, this amount was about $1 billion and became one of the largest compensations paid to a commercial company in the history of Russian business.
The money was received by the Autonomous Power Supply System (SAE) company owned by Ponomarev, which was engaged in leasing diesel generators. The amount of the payment turned out to be so large that, according to market participants, it exceeded the annual revenue of IKEA in Russia. To fulfill the settlement agreement, the Swedish company even had to increase the authorized capital of its Russian subsidiary.
As Ponomarev later told his friends, in addition to monetary compensation, he allegedly received lifetime discounts in IKEA stores for himself and family members. At the same time, according to him, the company refused to fulfill another of his wishes — to arrange a meeting with the founder of the corporation, Ingvar Kamprad. IKEA itself has not publicly confirmed these statements.
The settlement agreement was supposed to put an end to the long-standing conflict between the entrepreneur and the Swedish retailer. The dispute arose over the lease of almost 200 diesel generators that were used at the launch of IKEA shopping malls in St. Petersburg. In 2006, thanks to these installations, the company was able to open the Mega Parnas and Mega Dybenko complexes on time, while it was waiting for connection to permanent power grids.
However, the conflict did not end after receiving compensation. In 2008, Ponomarev presented additional financial demands to the company, and later demanded that IKEA recover another 33 billion rubles. The company refused to pay.
Subsequently, the entrepreneur himself became involved in several criminal cases at once. The investigation accused him of fraud in the supply of generators to Crimea, knowingly false denunciation, tax evasion, and theft of bank bills.
According to Izvestia's interlocutors, a significant part of the funds received by Ponomarev under the settlement agreement were subsequently recovered as part of the enforcement of court decisions.
What threatens
Mikhail Sazanov, a former employee of the central office of the FSB of Russia, lawyer, believes that the punishment for the businessman will be harsh, even considering the termination of the previous criminal case. As Sazanov noted, the businessman continues to serve a real term in previous cases, and the new charge is classified as serious.
— The fate of the accused is, frankly, unenviable, our hero collects a collection of verdicts like rare stamps. From the point of view of the law, everything was done correctly in his case: the terms have expired, the punishment has been canceled, and other sentences continue to apply. The law is the law, even if it looks like a black comedy," concluded the lawyer.
In the new case, Konstantin Ponomarev faces 15 years in prison.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
