Latvia launches probe of Russian oligarchs after The Insider investigation

According to Ukrinform, this was reported by Radio Svoboda.

The day before, The Insider told how sanctioned Russian oligarchs indirectly do business in Latvia, and Russians who publicly support Putin's policies continue to use personal property in the Baltic country.

For example, Vladimir Putin's friends are brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, who were martial arts practitioners in Leningrad together with Putin. Arkady Rotenberg, whom the media call “Putin's wallet,” registered some of his assets with Latvian citizen Maria Borodunova, according to an investigation by The Insider. (The media previously reported that Borodunova has a relationship with Rotenberg and acts as a cover for the oligarch to have access to property in Europe: in particular, villas on the Cote d'Azur and apartments in Monaco.)

The Insider journalists cite evidence that the Rotenberg family controls several Latvian companies through intermediaries, which allows them to circumvent sanctions and even increase their assets in the West.

Moreover, the investigation showed that despite efforts to reduce Russia's influence, a subsidiary of Gazprom is successfully operating in Latvia, and Russian military contractors are simultaneously developing production in Latvia. According to customs statistics available to The Insider, the products of the Riga Electric Machine Building Plant, owned by Russian oligarchs Iskandar Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev, now come to Russia not only directly but also, in the case of sanctions restrictions, via Turkey.

Other real estate owners in Latvia include former United Russia State Duma deputy Tatiana Krivenko and her husband, film director Valery Fokin, who was Putin's proxy in the election; sanctioned billionaire Mikhail Fridman; and Andrey Bolotov, former son-in-law of Putin's KGB associate and Transneft president Nikolai Tokarev.

The family of Natalia Timakova (former press secretary to the Russian president, later Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev) still owns a house in Jurmala. The property is registered in the name of her husband Alexander Budberg.

As reported, Latvia actively supports Ukraine in its confrontation with the aggressor country and is constantly strengthening sanctions against Russia.

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