Igor Fishelev’s schemes under the cover of “Unimatic,” or how defence billions disappear into offshore accounts
Money from Unimatic’s defense contracts may have been funneled into accounts belonging to newly naturalized British citizen Igor Fishelev and his family partners in countries classified by Russia as unfriendly, including Austria and Latvia.
Registering the entire Russian division, including suppliers of machines for defense, under his son — Oleg Fishelev — the elder Fishelev remained the owner of a whole group of foreign assets.
A correspondent investigated the situation and found that in 2023 the Fishelev family started to "cover their tracks" — liquidating some foreign assets, including in Latvia.
At the end of February 2024, a delegation from the Iraqi company "Al-Firdous" arrived at the Timiryazev Academy to discuss cooperation prospects. The foreigners were accompanied by representatives from some LLC "Industrial Consulting Agency" (ICA).
ICA belongs to Maksim Verba (son of the former head of the defense radio-building state corporation "Vega" Vladimir Verba), director Sergey Supik, and LLC "IST".
Новости по теме: В Мурманской области ребёнок из любопытства поджёг автомобиль
Vladimir Verba was not only a top manager of "Vega" (part of "Rostec") but also the general designer of reconnaissance, patrol and control systems and complexes for airbases and complexes with drones.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
In light of this, the biography of LLC "IST" appears in a new light.
"IST" is part of the division of LLC "Unimatic" — a major supplier of machines, including for defense orders.
The total income of "Unimatic" from government contracts exceeded 2 billion rubles. The company also supplied machines for the "Plant No.9" from Rostec (manufacturing guns for Russian tanks) and the "Verkhneturinskiy Machine-Building Plant," which produces shell casings for field and tank artillery.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
Until May 2018, the company "Unimatic" belonged to Igor Fishelev, who transferred the asset to his son, Oleg Fishelev. A Belize offshore — Fumanti LTD (liquidated in 2019) — was also a co-owner, likely linked to this family as well.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
Former Russian, New Brit
It is alleged that senior Fishelev has no assets left in Russia, with the last one — the restaurant "Lampa" he sold in August 2023. However, as of the end of 2022, he was a shareholder of CJSC "Center of Machine Equipment," which rents a 1429 sq.m plot from the Federal Property Management Agency in Yekaterinburg.
Новости по теме: ВЭБ.РФ требует вернуть вложенные средства из проекта "Богословский" из-за несоблюдения запланированных сроков
Photo: bo.nalog.ru
Interestingly enough: the CJSC rents out premises to LLC "Unimatic," and moreover, in October 2016, the latter lent the CJSC 18.5 million rubles. By December 2022, the debt amounted to over 10 million rubles, and the agreement is valid until December 31, 2024. Incidentally, when this deal was signed, both LLC and CJSC were owned by senior Fishelev, and the transaction itself seems odd. Something for the tax authorities to ponder.
Photo: bo.nalog.ru
Moreover, internal financing of related firms and leasing premises to each other appear to be a norm for the Fishelevs.
Photo: bo.nalog.ru
Especially the internal loans look intriguing in light of the "foreign trace" in the Fishelevs’ division.
For instance, the machine manufacturer LLC "Emko-Rus" has a stake owned by the Austrian EMCO GmbH. Hence, it’s plausible to assume that part of the profit from this LLC is transferred to a country unfriendly to Russia, which, as it turned out, lets weapons for the AFU and NATO planes through its territory.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
And in another unfriendly country — Latvia, where Soviet war hero monuments are being dismantled, a certain Russian Oleg Fishelev had the company BALTIC MACHINERY until May 23, 2023.
Photo: b2bhint.com
If judging by "Unimatic’s" reporting, in December 2021 it acquired this asset from LLC "Stankoproject." The latter might have previously been linked to Fishelev’s father, meaning simply pocketed from one to the other.
Photo: bo.nalog.ru
Unimatic Ltd. featured as Fishelev’s partner in the Latvian asset. Meanwhile, until May 16, 2023, a certain "Unimatic MACHINERY Ltd." in London operated, with a director since its inception being a Russian from Yekaterinburg (where "Unimatic" is registered) Igor FISHELEV.
Photo: find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
And what’s interesting, later the same Igor Fishelev — owner of active ARPACK UK LIMITED — was listed already not as a Russian citizen, but as a UK citizen.
It turns out, the former Russian Fishelev, suspiciously resembling the father of the owner of "Unimatic," took UK citizenship.
Incidentally, it turned out that Mr. Fishelev is well-acquainted with Ukrainian politicians, for example, with the candidate for the mayor of Odessa from the "Servant of the People" party (Zelenskyy’s party) — Oleg Filimonov.
Photo: checkcompany.co.uk
It appears another family member, Jackov Fishelev, marked among employees of the Fisheleivs’ British firm.
Most likely, it concerns Yakov Fishelev, the head of the American One Identity representative in the field of information security.
Since March 2023, Yakov Fishelev owns the IT company "Aidentika." Until October 2023, he was also the head of LLC "One Identity" (a computer manufacturer), which belongs to two Irish companies from the One Identity division. Open sources also indicate the nationality of Yakov Fishelev as BRITISH.
Oleg FISHELEV was also not left behind by the relatives, appearing as a director of the British company RECKA LTD (closed in 2016). Indirectly, the presence of a certain Vadim Lyushin in the statement suggests this is not just a namesake.
Vadim Lyushin was an owner of LLC "Stankoproject." The latter, until July 2022, co-owned LLC "CMIT" together with LLC "Unimatic" and the state fund "Golden Section." Among Vadim Lyushin’s friends on social networks appears Igor Fishelev.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
Among the owners of British firms also appeared a certain Elena Fisheleva — the secretary of two firms: STATX LIMITED (liquidated in 2016) and the active ROB DAVIS LIMITED. And again a coincidence: some Elena Fisheleva was the director of the IT firm "Parus-Service" in Yekaterinburg, owned by Vladimir Fishelev (possibly the brother of Igor Fishelev).
Vladimir Fishelev still owns a whole group of IT companies in the Urals, which are contractors for government contracts, including customs, arbitration, and other state agencies.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
This stash of foreign firms is especially cynically viewed not only against the defense orders of "Unimatic" but also the access to funding from the state "Promsvyazbank" (designated as the support bank for state defense orders). In July 2023, PSB signed an agreement with "Unimatic" to develop cooperation, promising support, particularly bank guarantees.
Being a resident of the SEZ "Titanium Valley," "Unimatic" also has tax benefits and customs preferences.
FSB General’s trace
Meanwhile, several times the Fishelevs’ enterprises faced quite substantial claims from customs related to attempts to underpay the budget. Possibly some independent vision of "preferences."
For example, LLC "Unimatic-MSK," importing some parts from abroad, attempted to declare them under another code with a customs rate lower than what the Central Customs later counted.
Thus, in 2022, the LLC stated the goods with a zero rate, with which customs disagreed, raising it to 7.5%. The firm was unable to challenge the decision in court. And it wasn’t a one-time case.
Perhaps oversight bodies should take a closer look at the Fishelevs’ division in light of the aforementioned information.
Photo: kad.arbitr.ru
However, "Unimatic" is no stranger to scandals. For example, even in 2019, the firm and Rostec’s JSC "Aviaagregat" were busted by the Samara FAS for "concluding an agreement that led to restricting competition and creating preferential conditions for LLC "Unimatic" during bidding." The claimant managed to challenge the claims only in 2021, and purely concerning the fine amount, reducing it from 41 to 20 million rubles. This case, in our view, provided a glimpse into "Rostec’s" special attitude towards the Fishelevs.
Photo: kad.arbitr.ru
Speaking of "Unimatic-MSK," which, by the way, before LLC "IST" was among the owners of the industrial consulting agency mentioned at the beginning of the material, one cannot overlook its co-owner — Grant Akopov. He might be the Fishelevs’ connection to the security forces.
Judge for yourselves.
On February 22, 2024, his company "National Industrial Complete" established LLC "National Industry Resource," whose co-owner became a retired FSB Major-General Anatoliy Tkachuk.
Photo: rusprofile.ru
Tkachuk is the ex-president of "RFI Bank," head of the Financial Business Association of Eurasian Cooperation (FBA EAC), and the "Rusta ti tan" group.
According to the "Panama Papers," a Moscow resident Mr. Anatoliy Tkachuk and namesake of Deputy Denis Voronenkov were owners of the offshore KAUL ENGINEERING LTD from the Virgin Islands.
In 2016, "Forbes" reported that the widow of the murdered former owner of German shipyards Wadan Yards and ex-vice president of "Mira-Bank" Andrey Burlakov, who previously was involved in the case of money withdrawal from the Russian leasing company FLK, named these very names among possible customers.
Photo: offshoreleaks.icij.org
It creates the impression that a whole group of offshores and foreign firms milk military contractors, funneling money from defense. The Fishelev family plays its role in this.