CORRUPTION
The family of Vladimir Putin's former prime minister and ex-head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Mikhail Fradkov leads a luxurious lifestyle — one that could not have been financed with his official income, an investigation by The Insider has revealed. And Fradkov’s relatives enjoy spending time in the West — this despite the former intelligence chief being subject to international sanctions by both the U.S. and EU.
In the spring of 2018, Russian ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov was added to the U.S. sanctions list for his role heading the SVR during Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, an operation that involved the illegal annexation of Crimea and the sponsorship of Russian-backed “separatist” movements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. A few days after Fradkov was sanctioned by the U.S., his son Petr went on holiday to Barcelona and Nice, according to data obtained by The Insider. Mikhail Fradkov was already under EU sanctions at the time.
Petr Fradkov is the CEO of the state-owned Promsvyazbank, which has become Russia’s special “military” bank, facilitating transactions involving state defense orders and large state contracts while the country remains under sanctions. Despite his “patriotic” mission, Fradkov's son has taken dozens of holidays abroad since his father was declared a “persona non grata” in the West. According to air travel records obtained by The Insider, he has frequently flown to Paris, Dubai, Vienna, Berlin, Geneva, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Zurich, Rome and Milan.
Fradkov Jr. at a meeting with Putin
Fradkov's wife Viktoria teaches at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), and, judging by real estate property documents, co-owns a flat on Novinki Street along with one Elena Kruglenkova (apparently her mother).
Curiously, Kruglenkova uses a Mercedes-Benz officially registered to Promsvyazbank, the same state-owned bank where her grandson serves as CEO. Nothing is known about any of Kruglenkova's businesses; she worked as a consultant for a charitable foundation and lives with MGIMO vice-rector Viktor Kirillov, whose monthly salary, according to his official income declaration, is 400,000 rubles (somewhat over $5,000 as of 2021).
Petr Fradkov’s mother-in-law uses a corporate Mercedes owned by Promsvyazbank
At the same time, according to available data from Rosreestr, Russia's official cadastre and cartography agency, Petr Fradkov owns a 225-square-meter flat in the residential complex «House at the Academy of Sciences” (ЖК «Дом при Академии Наук») with a market value of approximately 214 million rubles (close to $3 million). He also owned a 217-square-meter apartment in the “Olympic Plaza” residential complex, this one valued at about 90 million rubles($1.2 million). He and his wife drive a Mercedes-AMG G63 and a Maybach.
Petr Fradkov bought an apartment in the “House at the Academy of Sciences” before he joined the bank, when he worked as General Director of the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance. At that time, he declared an annual income of 34 million rubles (approximately $450,000). He received the property in Olympic Plaza completely free of charge — courtesy of Russia’s Presidential Affairs Management Directorate.
The former prime minister's second son, Pavel Fradkov, was appointed first deputy head of the same agency that gave his brother the apartment in Olympic Plaza. Pavel himself owns a 310-square-meter penthouse in the “Dominion” residential complex on Moscow's Lomonosovsky Prospekt. It is valued at 372 million rubles (over $5 million). He bought it at a time when he was working as a civil servant and did not have a high official income.
The Insider has also identified Pavel Fradkov's wife, Anna Fradkova. She used to work in the press service of Rusnano, Russia’s state-owned nanotech firm, and now works for the petrochemicals giant Sibur. Her family owns the Don Giulio café and confectionery shop in Moscow. Over the past six years, the company's net profit has totaled a mere 22 million rubles (close to $300,000).
Anna Fradkova
A 543-square-meter home in Akinshino, near Moscow, built last year, is registered in the name of Sergei Kadochnikov, Fradkov's father-in-law.
However, it follows from the movements of the official's family cars that it is actually Anna Fradkova who uses the property.
The elder Fradkov was earlier confirmed as the owner of a three-storey 588-meter penthouse in the “House on Smolenskaya Embankment” complex in Moscow, as well as 100 hectares of land and a 300-square-meter house in Petrovo-Dalny on the “Rublyovka,” the unofficial name of a prestigious residential area in the western suburbs of Moscow, located along the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway, which gives the area its nickname. Rublyovka's gated communities are home to multiple Russian government officials and businesspeople, leading The New York Times to characterize the areas as “home to the sprawling villas of Russia's ruling class.”
Taking into account The Insider’s new findings, the Fradkovs’ total property holdings can be estimated at 2 billion rubles. After stepping down as head of the SVR, Fradkov became head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Research. His average monthly income is 444,000 rubles — just over $6,000. He has spent his entire life as a government employee. Fradkov's sons are also pursuing careers in state institutions.