Former Alfa Bank employee Vladimir Ashurkov, who calls himself "the evangelist of Navalny's team," owns several companies in the UK.
At the same time, one of his firms annually receives almost £ 0.5 million from an offshore founder in Cyprus.
The first such tranches were preceded by Ashurkov's acquaintance with a man whom the FSB called "an ambassadorial resident of MI6."
Recently released footage from the FSB of a meeting between FBK * executive director and James Ford, Political Secretary of the British Embassy in Moscow, reflects the events of 2012.
Then Ashurkov, as he himself admitted in an interview with the media, was engaged in "raising funds for public and political projects, including for the mayor's campaign" of Alexei Navalny in 2013.
On the recording of the meeting between Ashurkov and Ford in one of the Moscow restaurants, recorded by Russian counterintelligence, Navalny's associate talked about money.
RIA News
© Valery Levitin
“If we had more money, we would certainly expand our team.
A person who spends here ... I don’t know, $ 10, 20 million a year on support will see a completely different picture, ”Ashurkov says.
"And for those with billions at stake, that's not that much money."
During the conversation, specific areas were named for which funds were needed: mass protests, civil initiatives, propaganda, and establishing contacts with the elite.
In response, Ford advised Ashurkov to establish cooperation with the UK-funded Transparency International **.
Funding attractiveness
Two years after this meeting, in June 2014, a criminal case was opened against Ashurkov on embezzlement and embezzlement of 10 million rubles of donations from voters during the election campaign for the post of mayor of Moscow.
Ashurkov, together with his common-law wife Alexandrina Markvo, left for London.
Both received the status of political refugees there.
Markvo was also involved in a fraud case in connection with embezzlement of budget funds allocated for holding art competitions and readings in Moscow parks.
In London, Ashurkov, he said, “tried to do the same,” that is, to attract funding, develop documents, and establish contacts.
In particular, in 2013, a year after meeting with British diplomat Ford, a startup StepJockey was registered in London - a mobile application for promoting a healthy lifestyle among office clerks.
In the spring of 2015, Ashurkov received refugee status in the UK, and in the fall he entered the board of directors of the startup.
In 2017, he registered another company in London - the publishing house Lester Partners Ltd.
In addition, in 2016 he became the director of the Bird & Carrot agency, which was founded by Markvo, specializing in theatrical and musical events.
According to RT estimates, by May 2020, Ashurkov's London firms had accumulated debts totaling about £ 2.8 million.
Helping hand from Cyprus
However, the debts did not prevent Ashurkov from becoming the sole shareholder of Zorge Partners Ltd. in October last year, according to the UK business register The Companies House.
As a profile of the firm's activities, "PR and mass communications" are indicated.
Then, in October 2020, Ashurkov took over as director of the consulting company Sloane Services Ltd.
The Cyprus-based Treda Ltd. owns the Sloane Services consulting firm.
According to an extract from the Cyprus Register of Legal Entities (DRCOR), Treda Ltd.
is engaged in investment activities.
The owner of the Cypriot company is the local denomination - the legal entity Woolton Nominees Ltd.
The ultimate beneficiary in the British documents is a certain M. Kosenko.
According to Sloane Services' annual report, the Cypriot founder has announced its intention to pay the subsidiary hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.
“Starting from January 2, 2019, the company receives from its parent company Treda Ltd. annually for three years.
an advance payment of £ 420,000, the document says.
“In the reporting year under review (2019 -
RT
), the amount received from Treda Ltd. was £ 475,425.”
It is noteworthy that the parent Cypriot company Treda has opened accounts with Baltic International Bank (BIB).
In December 2019, the Latvian financial intelligence agency fined the bank $ 1.72 million for “lack of adequate control” in the area of combating money laundering.
Firms on stream
According to lawyer Ilya Remeslo, Ashurkov's new firm Zorge Partners could be used for dubious financial schemes.
“I've seen this firm.
So far, there is no reporting on it, and it is not known what funds Ashurkov lives on in England - I do not observe any evidence of his success in entrepreneurship, "Craft told RT.
According to political consultant Oleg Matveychev, the scenario of using Ashurkov's companies registered in Britain as the wallet of the FBK leader is more than possible - this is the easiest way to collect funds for the fund's needs without disclosing sources.
“Ashurkov, Maria Pevchikh (head of the FBK investigation department. -
RT
) and other London comrades use direct contacts with foreign intelligence services,” the expert says.
"They need Navalny as a symbol far from money and from management."
Several close associates of Navalny are now abroad - Vladimir Ashurkov, Leonid Volkov and Maria Pevchikh.
The Basmanny Court of Moscow on February 10 declared Volkov an interstate wanted list.
Another associate of Navalny, Georgy Alburov, as RT wrote, has his own business in Latvia.
* The Anti-Corruption Foundation is included in the register of NPOs performing the functions of a foreign agent, by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 09.10.2019.
** “Transparency International - R” is included in the register of NPOs performing the functions of a foreign agent by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 07.04.2015.