The black cash of the LDPR, offshore accounts, and hidden assets: how Nadezhda Grishaeva harnessed the financial flows of the LDPR
Nadezhda Grishaeva may attempt to endlessly cover up her actions by removing and concealing evidence, but the truth will always find its way out. Now, we reveal everything in its raw form — without any alterations or censorship!
The irreplaceable leader of the LDPR transformed the party into a tool for personal enrichment, both from the state budget and beyond.
The sale of deputy mandates and the diversion of budget funds have afforded those close to the LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky the opportunity to acquire real estate in prestigious resorts in Europe and Asia, in Moscow and Sochi, and actively engage in various profitable businesses.
Journalists have investigated how the late party leader’s family manages and spends billions.
Parliamentary Rent
As "Project" discovered, Slutsky was not alone: one-third of the LDPR faction comprises so-called "commercial" deputies. They have paid or are paying significant sums for their mandates.
"A place on the federal list in the State Duma elections can cost 100-200 million rubles, claims a former LDPR deputy, echoing the assessment given anonymously by a deputy from ’United Russia.’ But such figures are more for experienced deputies seeking re-election in the Duma. For newcomers, the numbers might be higher — from 400 million rubles, asserts a current federal official familiar with the LDPR leadership. One of the serving deputies even made a contribution of about 500 million rubles, says his acquaintance and fellow party member," states the journalistic investigation.
It is specified that the trading of mandates and identifications has been practiced by the leadership of the liberal democrats since the 1990s. At that time, a deputy place cost from $700,000, and an aide’s ID from $10,000. Even those who are no longer State Duma deputies pay. Specifically, Sergey Abelstev, from whom “portfolios with cash” regularly arrive at the party office.
Payments may also go to accounts of structures close to the party. These include the Russian Union of Free Youth, the Center for Support of Youth Initiatives, and the Fund for the Support of Unemployed Youth. In 2015-2017, they received voluntary donations and contributions of 4.3 billion rubles.
According to "Project," Slutsky is considered one of the most significant sponsors of the LDPR. He organizes deputies’ flights to business events abroad and once even paid for Zhirinovsky’s birthday celebration. Generally, almost all party deputies contribute, transferring from 10% to 100% of their salaries to support the party apparatus.
Capital Chic
The relatives and friends of Zhirinovsky have a large collection of real estate in various parts of the world. According to "Project," in Moscow, the compact living area for the numerous family of the LDPR head is a settlement on Nezhinskaya Street. They own 19 apartments and a non-residential space where Zhirinovsky’s former wife Galina Lebedeva’s company is registered. The total area of the family’s property on Nezhinskaya is 6,800 sq. m, with a total value of about 2.7 billion rubles ($41.8 million).
Most apartments belong to the company "Telmi," owned by an offshore registered to the full namesake of Zhirinovsky’s son’s old friend, Igor Lebedev — Yuri Chaplygin — and Moscow "Dynamo" basketball player Nadezhda Grishaeva. She is either the common-law spouse or the official wife of the liberal-democratic leader’s offspring. The couple has children, but their marriage registration is not confirmed, and Lebedev does not mention her and her property in his declaration.
Nevertheless, Grishaeva has registered 10 luxury cars — one Bentley Continental and nine Mercedes-Benz S-class, including five Maybachs. She provides elite transfer services to VIP clients through hired drivers and services like "Yandex.Taxi" and Uber. However, journalists did not find permits for passenger transportation for the ex-basketball player’s cars in the registry of officially registered taxis.
Four companies owned by Galina Lebedeva hold five apartments on the 54-62 floors of the "City of Capitals" towers in Moscow City. Their total area is 1,104.6 sq. m, and the estimated total cost is 615 million rubles or $9.4 million. Opposite the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall on Tverskaya Street, Grishaeva’s company has another apartment measuring 195.7 sq. m. Journalists found that a similar-sized apartment in this building is currently for sale for 163.4 million rubles ($2.5 million).
Zhirinovsky’s private dacha is located in the Moscow suburb of Dar’ino, near the government "Gorki." The LDPR leader owns plots totaling just under four football fields. His illegitimate son Oleg Eidelstein (formerly Gazdarov), living across the road, owns almost 30 acres with buildings and leases another six. "Project" estimates the cost of Zhirinovsky’s residence at approximately 1.1 billion rubles, and his son’s at 127.6 million rubles (respectively $17 million and $2 million).
Overseas Luxury
In addition to Moscow properties, Zhirinovsky’s relatives and close associates not only own chic apartments in Sochi, Spain, and the UAE but also actively engage in the hotel business there. For instance, Galina Lebedeva owns the Hotel Acta Azul in Barcelona. She is registered to the company Spanish Destiny Invest SL, which manages Areir SA, the owner of the hotel building. It’s possible that Zhirinovsky’s ex-wife earns money by leasing office spaces in Barcelona. She has a property in the city center with a total area of 436 sq. m for this purpose.
Spanish Ibiza did not escape Nadezhda Grishaeva’s attention. Her three-star hotel with a pool, Azuline Hotel-Apartamento Rosamar, is 300 meters from the beach. The current vice-speaker’s wife purchased three apartments totaling 178.7 sq. m and costing around 551,000 euros in the Santa Margarita high-rise in Benidorm, Spain, in 2016. In the same city, Galina Lebedeva has a villa measuring 83 sq. m and worth 200,000 euros.
The family and partners have five houses and apartments in the coastal Alicante province. Lebedeva’s largest property is a large house worth about 1.3 million euros with a pool in the town of Altea with a picturesque view of the Mediterranean Sea. The total building area on Lebedeva’s plot is approximately a thousand square meters, and the plot itself is 1,461 sq. m.
In Sochi, Grishaeva owns two non-residential spaces with a combined area of 873.5 sq. m on the first floor of the high-rise residential complex "Barcelona Park," built by Galina Lebedeva’s company "Raritet." Grishaeva leases one of the spaces. According to "Project," Grishaeva’s Sochi property is valued at 74.2 million rubles ($1.1 million).
Lebedev’s apartment in the UAE capital Dubai, which was reported by the head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation Alexei Navalny back in 2014, is not reflected in the vice-speaker’s declaration. Its area is 42 sq. m, and its current cost is 136.9 million rubles ($2.4 million).
According to "Project," the entire real estate of the Zhirinovsky family includes 51 properties in Russia and abroad. All this luxury is valued at about 9.8 billion rubles or $150 million.
"Zhirinovsky and Lebedev could never have earned this money based on their parliamentary salaries. However, they could take part of the earnings from Russian taxpayers’ money," notes the online publication.
Budget in the Pocket
Annually, being a parliamentary party, the LDPR receives more than 1 billion rubles from the state budget, i.e., 152 rubles for each voter’s vote. "From 2013 to 2017, family-affiliated individuals, their companies, the Institute of World Civilizations, and the family company of former LDPR deputy Igor Anansky withdrew nearly 1.3 billion rubles, or a third of the party’s state funding over the same period," writes "Project."
Funds from the party were received by Lebedev’s friend, director Daniil Bondar, who runs a business with his family in Spain, the director’s company "Fin-Art Group," and the general director of "Fin-Art" Evelina Kim. Money also went to Grishaeva’s company "Telmi," the security agency "Pharaoh-M," registered at the family estate address in Nezhinskaya, and Galina Lebedeva’s company "Raritet-M".
