The Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC), which accounts only to the US Treasury and President Joe Biden, announced the new names of companies and persons included in the long list of sanctioned. These are individuals and business entities allegedly linked to the Russian government and, by extension, the military invasion of Ukraine.
Among them are two particularly interesting holders of Cypriot citizenship, Assay News reports. The reason for Mikhail Klyukin and Brodsky Ilya Borisovich (also spelled Ilya BRODSKIY). In fact, the list also records the numbers of their Cypriot passports which they acquired thanks to the investment programs offered by the Republic of Cyprus in previous years.
Both are closely related (especially the first) to the Bank “Open Joint Stock Company Sovcombank”, which in turn has ties with the Russian government and allegedly played an important role in supporting the economy in the country.
However, neither of them is mentioned in the report of the “Investigative Committee of the exceptional naturalisation of foreign investors and entrepreneurs”.
This somehow causes a sensation, as for Mikhail Klyukin there are particularly interesting publications at the international level. The role of the 44-year-old for the transfer of capital of the SOVCOMBANK OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY to Cyprus has been highly discussed in Russia, while his name is also found in the notorious… Panama Papers. However, when his name was placed under the microscope of the Cypriot authorities, paradoxically nothing reprehensible was detected. Hence, the commission was not concerned, which was assigned by a prosecutor’s decree to examine naturalizations from 2007 until August 2020.
Below are detailed data on the cases of Mikail Kliukin and Ilya Brodsky, as well as the bank to which they are related, the Cyprus-affiliated SOVCOMBANK OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY (OJSC):
Document presenting audit findings made at SOVCOMBANK bank. Clear reference for the Cyprus company QUERSKO.
Cyprus QUERSKO LTD and Apollonia
Mikhail Vasilyevich (Klyukin, Mikhail Vasilyevich): according to the US Treasury Department, OFAC, Mikhail Klyukin, born on 22/09/1977, holds a Russian and Cypriot passport (K00299010). As for the reasons included in the list of sanctions, it is noted that it is connected with SOVCOMBANK OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY. Although the US links him to the Putin government through the SOVCOMBANK bank, however, as oxymoron as it may seem, the Russian Federation has put him under the microscope before. Reports in Russia at the end of 2018 said that after a tax audit at Sovcombank and its officials it emerged through documents that funds of the bank were transferred from Russia to Cyprus.
As part of the federal investigations into the transfer of these funds to our island, Vasily Kliukin, Mikail’s brother and founder of SOVCOMBANK, was presented as the mastermind. At the same time, Vasily allegedly transferred his share of the bank to his “Cypriot” brother Mikail. The same reports indicate that funds were transferred to shell companies in Cyprus. There is talk of a case in which an amount of 500.000 euros was transferred to a registered company in Cyprus, QUERSKO LTD. The latter was registered with the Registrar of companies in July 2010, the transfer of money from Russia was made in December of the same year, while the company was deregistered in January 2016.
The other interesting thing about Kliukin is the identification of his name in the Panama Papers. The international network of Investigative Journalists ICIJ linked him to the company Apollonia Holdings Ltd. He presented himself as the owner of shares of this business entity as of 05/03/2013. In fact, through the data revealed by the researchers-journalists there is no doubt that this is the Cypriot Mikhail Kliukin, as his address as they present it (1st Krasnoarmeyskiy per. 4 flat 187, Mytishi, Moscow), is the same as the one published last Thursday by the US Treasury. Simply put, there is no doubt that Mikhail Kliukin, with his curious activities, is the holder of a Cypriot passport who never occupied the commission set up to investigate naturalizations by exception.
Mikail Klyukin and Ilya Brodsky: Panama Papers dwellers on the new U.S. sanctions list
The Panama Papers have been described as the biggest leak in history about global corruption. These are 11 million documents, which were held by Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca and have branches in Hong Kong, Miami, Zurich, as well as 35 other places around the world. The list of companies and individuals involved was published in spring 2016 by the International Consortium of researchers-journalists ICIJ, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Mossack Fonseca specializes in creating virtual companies that can be used to hide ownership of assets. Its clients were over 500 banks and their subsidiaries, which have worked with the company since 1970 to help their clients manage their offshore companies.
The 44-year-old has been a member of the Board of Directors of SovComBank since 04/06/2016. He is the sole shareholder of Benacom Enterprise Corp., which in turn is a shareholder (13.27%) of SovCo Capital Partners BV. He graduated from the financial Academy of the Russian Federation in 1999. Since 21/08/2008 he is the general director of Severo-Zapad LLC. He is the brother of Vasily Klyukin who became the strongman of Sovcombank in 2003.
The international network of Investigative Journalists ICIJ revealed the Panama Papers, with a blueprint showing Mikail Klyukin’s relationship with shell company Apollonia Holdings Ltd.
Ilya Borisovich Brodsky is an official at the US-sanctioned SOVCOMBANK, where he also served as chairman of the board of directors. Apart from Cypriot citizenship, Ilya Brodsky also holds corporate ties on our island. It is indicative that at some point the main shareholder of SOVCOMBANK was the Cyprus-registered REG Holding Limited. Brodsky Ilya Borisovich, therefore, had a respectable stake in Cyprus REG Holding Limited, having 10.06% of its shares. REG Holding Limited was registered with the Registrar of Cyprus companies in July 2003, and was dissolved due to its voluntary liquidation on 18/12/2018. The 49-year-old seems to know the banking… game well, as we found him participating administratively in number D.p. financial organizations. Our compatriot born in Moscow in 1972, graduated in 1994 from the state Academy of steering. In 1992 he had also completed some specialized courses at the financial Academy. He worked as an official in various banks.
Sovcombank: the US Treasury Department reasons why it was placed on the sanctions list for the Russian invasion. According to his analysis, Sovcombank is the third largest private institution in Russia by assets. At the same time, it is the 9th largest bank in Russia. It is recognized as systemically important for the Russian economic institution and plays an important role in the economy of the Russian Federation. 22 subsidiaries of Sovcombank are affiliated with or controlled by Sovcombank. These 22 subsidiaries are financial services companies in Russia and Cyprus. 50% of their shares or more are controlled by Sovcombank.
The officials of REG Holding Limited, as presented to the Registrar of Cyprus companies. Brodsky appears among them. REG Holding Limited has been the major shareholder of… punished by the Western SOVCOMBANK.
The new US sanctions announced: it will finish the Sovcombank company altogether
The State Department, announcing the new additions to the long list, said the goal was “to ensure that Russia pays a serious economic and diplomatic price for its invasion of Ukraine.”
The new names included in the list:
Dmitry Vladimirovich Gusev, Mikhail Lvovich Kuchment, Anatoly Alexandrovich Bravverman, Ilya Borisovich (Brodsky) Brodskiy, Aleksey Leonidovich Fisun, Dmitry Vladimirovich Khotimskiy, Sergey Vladimirovich Khotimskiy, Mikhail Vasilyevich Klyukin, Mikhal Olegovich Avtukhov, Albert Alexandrovich Boris, Dmitry Vladimirovich Beryshnikov, Elena Alexandrovna Cherstvova, Sergey Nikolaevich Bondarovich, Oleg Alexandrovich Mashtalyar, Alexey Valeryevich Panferov, Irina Nikoalyevna Kashina, and Joel Raymon Lautier. All these individuals are each identified as a former or current head, official, senior executive or member of the Board of Directors of Sovcombank bank.
