From shadow import of aircraft parts to arrest in absentia: how Protector Group owner Pavel Provotorov embezzled 12 billion rubles from Rosaviatsiya and fled abroad
A court has received a motion from the investigation to place Pavel Provotorov, the owner of the Protector Group, under arrest in absentia. Protector is Russia’s largest supplier of engines and aircraft spare parts, operating in circumvention of sanctions. He has been charged in absentia as part of an investigation into the embezzlement of 12 billion rubles allocated by the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) for the procurement of aircraft parts.
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As our project previously reported, those arrested in connection with the case include the owner of Protector’s mother (in whose name the Group’s shares were registered), as well as the chief accountant and commercial director of the group of companies. Pavel Provotorov, according to a source, had been residing in Thailand but left that country after searches were conducted in Moscow.
Also questioned in the case were the former head of Protector’s security service, ex-chief of the Security Service Directorate (USB) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow, General Konstantin Stroganov, and a large group of security staff consisting of former employees of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. At one point, the former head of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (GUEBiPK) of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Denis Sugrobov, also served as a security consultant for the Protector Group.
The investigative actions were carried out within the framework of the case concerning the embezzlement of 12 billion rubles. These funds, allocated after closed tenders by Rosaviatsiya and major Russian airlines, were intended for the purchase of foreign aircraft parts in circumvention of sanctions. The parts were supposed to have arrived in Russia a year ago. The case is being handled by the Main Investigative Directorate (GSU) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow, with operational support provided by the "T" Directorate of the Russian FSB.
Following the start of the war and the imposition of sanctions against Russia in 2022, the Protector Group quickly rose to become a leader in supplying spare parts to Russia in circumvention of sanctions, leveraging companies in the USA, Thailand, and Singapore, and established supply chains. However, at the end of 2022, Protector began experiencing difficulties with customs clearance in Russia. The Federal Customs Service (FTS) indicated that criminal cases would soon be initiated against the management of the Protector Group.
At the beginning of 2023, Andrei Nikolaevich Petrov, the head of the airline "Rusjet," offered to help resolve the problem. Provotorov knew him, as Protector had supplied aircraft parts to Rusjet, which maintains the private aircraft of Ramzan Kadyrov. Petrov relayed the terms from the "curators": 50% of the entire Protector business. In exchange, all problems with the FSB, MVD, and FTS would be resolved and would not arise again. Moreover, the Group would receive even more money through Rosaviatsiya thanks to the new partners.
After the cooperation began, all of Protector’s customs problems disappeared as if by magic, and money from Rosaviatsiya began to flow abundantly.
The total volume of Protector Group’s supplies, including completed repairs, averaged 7 billion rubles per month.
According to Pavel, in 2025 alone, he discovered that Andrei Nikolaevich Petrov is actually Arkady Berkovich, the "right-hand man" of the leader of the bloodiest organized criminal group, Aslan Gagiev (Jako). He had been arrested for organizing the murder of three bankers but mysteriously ended up free.
Subsequently, the new partners informed Pavel that he needed to pay an additional 1% of the value of all spare parts and engines arriving in Russia (allegedly representing the share for the FTS and FSB). The total amount of such payments exceeded 3 billion rubles.
Separately, a total of 1.1 billion rubles in "dividends" were handed over directly to the new partners. Later, they demanded an additional $100 million from him.
When he refused, the partners blocked all payments to his structures meant for the procurement of aircraft parts.
