Mysterious deaths among corporate executives of Russian energy giant Gazprom are said to be linked to a complex “money laundering scheme” that benefited the family of a top gas executive and his cronies in Vladimir Putin’s security services.
Novaya Gazeta Europe, a leading investigative journal, and Transparency International Russia, claimed that the high-profile Russian businessmen who died in suspicious circumstances were linked to a multi-million dollar money laundering scheme.
The day after the war in Ukraine began, Alexander Tyulyakov, deputy head of corporate security at Gazprom’s United Settlement Center, the energy giant’s “treasury,” allegedly committed suicide.
He died on February 25, 2022 in the guarded Leninsky industrial village of Gazprom in the Leningrad region, near St. Petersburg. His body was reportedly discovered by his lover.
His neck was in a noose in his £500,000 home, but there are strong suspicions he did not commit suicide.
The day after the war in Ukraine began, Alexander Tyulyakov (left), deputy head of corporate security at Gazprom’s United Settlement Center, the energy giant’s “treasure chest,” allegedly committed suicide. Two months later, Vladislav Avayev, 51, (right) a vice president of Gazprombank and former Kremlin official, was found dead in Moscow
Sergey Protosenya was found hanged in Spain after he killed his wife Natalia (53) and their teenage daughter Maria with an axe.
A suicide note was found with the body of a man revealed to be a former KGB and FSB officer, but his death has remained “mysterious,” the report said, not least because his body had been “severely abused” before his death. ‘ used to be.
Two months later, Vladislav Avayev, 51, a vice president of Gazprombank and a former Kremlin official, was found dead in Moscow, next to the bodies of his wife Elena, 47, and daughter Maria, 13. They were discovered by his adult daughter, Anastasia. .
Investigators quickly concluded that Avayev killed them before committing suicide.
However, this was strongly disputed at the time, including by a former top Gazprombank official who alleged that Avayev had access to the private accounts of elite clients, including Vladimir Putin’s circle and possibly the president himself.
“These top executives worked in structures that we suspect were linked to financial fraud in billion-dollar contracts with Gazprom,” said Novaya Gazeta Europe and Transparency International Russia.
This was “for the benefit of the family” of a Russian gas monopoly executive “and his close friends from the security services and the army.”
Many contracts involved state tax money, it was alleged.
Montenegro authorities stumbled upon an alleged money laundering case when investigating a €30 million payment linked to a company behind a five-star hotel on the Adriatic Sea owned by four Russians, the report said.
An alleged request from Interpol to Russia for details of the payment has not been answered, it was reported.
“The reason may be that all owners of the Montenegrin company are united by belonging to the (Russian) national patrimony – the state-owned Gazprom.”
Novaya Gazeta Europe and Transparency International Russia say their “sources link Tyulyakov’s death to problems with the Montenegrin company.”
No details are given as to how he might have died.
The top gas manager named by the media is a former KGB and FSB officer.
Another energy manager, Leonid Shulman, 60, (left) head of transportation at Gazprom Invest, died in the same elite Leninsky-gated housing project in the Leningrad region. Last July, Yuri Voronov, 61, (right) head of a transport and logistics company for a Gazprom-affiliated company, was found dead in his swimming pool, while a prominent friend, a top criminalist, warned of foul play
A vice president of Gazprombank who quit to fight for Ukraine in the war, Igor Volobuev (pictured), previously expressed the opinion that said Avayev was killed
Family ties connect the CEO and employees to the Montenegrin company and the alleged suspicious payment.
Another energy manager, Leonid Shulman, 60, head of transportation at Gazprom Invest, died in the same elite Leninsky-gated housing project in the Leningrad region.
He was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a pool of blood on his bathroom floor.
And in July last year, 61-year-old Yuri Voronov, head of a transport and logistics company for a Gazprom-affiliated company, was found dead in his swimming pool while a prominent friend, a top criminal scientist, warned of foul play.
A vice president of Gazprombank who quit to fight for Ukraine in the war, Igor Volobuev, previously expressed the opinion that Avayev was killed.
“It is hard to believe that Avayev shot and killed his daughter, 13, (his wife).
“In my opinion, this is a staged suicide. His suicide was staged.’
He made the same claim about multimillionaire Sergey Protosenya, 55, a former deputy chairman of Novatek, who died just days after Avayev.
Protosenya was found hanged in Spain after he killed his wife Natalia (53) and their teenage daughter Maria with an axe.
“All these stories are strange. I don’t believe in suicide. It doesn’t fit in my head,” Volobuev said.
A string of mysterious deaths in the energy sector hit Russia leading up to the war, and once it started.