More than a hundred Russian politicians, including MPs, government officials and their closest relatives, own real estate in Dubai, according to ISTORIES, an independent Russian media outlet.
Their investigation is based upon the registry of real estate in Dubai provided by DARPA, a research and development agency of the US Department of Defence. This registry shows that more than 5,000 Russian individuals own real estate in the emirate, including politicians and officials who did not mention the respective property in their tax statements. The list also includes numerous bankers and businessmen accused of fraud or embezzlement in the past.
One of the key figures is Ruslan Baysarov, a Chechen businessman often referred to as ‘Ramzan Kadyrov’s moneybag’. He owned five apartments and a vacation home on an artificial island of Palm Jumeirah as of 2020. The total market value of his assets is believed to be over $10 million.
Saigidpasha Umakhanov, an MP from Dagestan, owned an apartment in Marina, an affluent Dubai neighbourhood, worth $700,000. He did not mention this asset in his tax statement.
Gulsina Minnikhanova, the wife of Tatarstan’s governor Rustam Minnikhanov, also owned an apartment on Palm Jumeirah worth $880,000. This apartment also wasn’t in her husband’s tax statement.
Among others, the list also includes:
- Akhmad Yasayev, Ramzan Kadyrov’s assistant
- Suleyman Geremeev, a senator from Chechnya (The United Russia Party)
- Roman Lyabikhov, an MP (The Communist Party)
- Aleksandr Boroday, an MP (The United Russia Party)
- Ilya Gaffner, Sverdlovsk region Assembly member (The United Russia Party)
- Yevgeny Panov, a Moscow official
- Makhach Gadzhiyasulov, a high-rank Pension Fund official in Dagestan
- Sergey Bogdanchikov, the former CEO of Rosneft
- Ivan Myazin, a former co-owner of Promsberbank
None of the people listed above commented on the investigation.
