Brother of Deputy Prosecutor-General Owns Radisson Hotel in Kiev

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Joi, 26.01.2017 01:13   1471
Victor Garaba, brother of the Moldovan deputy prosecutor-general, is known as the final beneficiary of Wesla Investments Limited in the British Virgin Islands. The latter is the founder of Ukrainian firm Veon Plus, which controls the Radisson Blu Podil Hotel in Kiev.

Translation from Romanian. The original text is HERE

Russian investors continue to sell their businesses in Ukraine. For many of them this decision is a result of the war in eastern Ukraine and Russian occupation of the Crimea. Some companies are for sale at attractive prices – 2-3-fold lower than under ordinary circumstances. 

Russians, Ukrainians, or Moldovans

At the end of last year, Russian company Hotel Development which is controlled by Russian millionaire Abbas Aliev sold a four-star Radisson Blu Podil Hotel in the downtown of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The property came into the hands of Moldova-born Ukrainian banker Serhyi Tigypko, who i sone of the richest businessmen and politicians in Ukraine with half a billion dollars in accounts, according to the Forbes. 

The deal concluded about three months ago and raised approximately 10 million U.S. dollars, or 3-4-fold less than the former owner had invested, LigaBusinessInform cited sourcres. „The hotel has been sold but I don’t really know the buyer,” sais Alexey Nefedov, deputy director-general of Hotel Development.

Serhyi Tigypko has not commented on the report and his press secretary was did not confirm or deny the hotel’s takeover.

Brother of deputy prosecutor-general is the beneficiary

Records from the Ukrainian trade directory show that a company Veon Plus is the new proprietor of te hotel.

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The company itself was founded by an offshore - Wesla Investments Limited from the British Virgin Islands. And the final beneficiary of Wesla Investments Limited is Victor Garaba of Moldova, brother of the deputy prosecutor-general.

The residence address in the directory and other business links show that Victor Garaba does business with Mr Tigypko. Mr Garaba is administrator at Avicola Tochile SRL, a Moldovan chicken fam where Irina Garaba, wife of Moldovan Prosecutor Iurie Garaba was employed, according to the investigative newspaper Ziarul de Gardă.

A Cypriot offshore called Lifaza Limited controls Avicola Tochile SRL and appears in many transactions and properties held by Serhyi Tigypko including a 23.77% package in the home design and construction company Shkhoona. 

Victor Garaba neither confirmed nor denied the report. 

"Soi s it the only thing you have to do now? There’s so much happening in this country!" the man told Mold-Street.com and shut down the phone. 

Tigypko and other links with Moldova

Belsis Limited, another affiliate of Tigypko, has an office in Chișinău, the Moldovan capital, and its administrator is Valeriu Cebotari, who runs simultaneously a handful of other Cypriot offshore representations with interests in Ukraine. Mold-Street.com found Wecker Limited and Martical Limited, which are shareholders in the asphalt plant Stolichnyi in Kiev – just another enterprise in Tigypko’s business empire around TAS Group. These also appear in other Ukrainian companies affiliated to Tigypko.

At the end of 2016 TAS Group purchased UniversalBank Ukraine from Eurobank Group in Greece, via Bailican Limited. 

Forbes says Mr Tigypko intends to merge UniversalBank with TaskomBank and thus establish a big financial enterprise. The new bank would be among 20 largest banks in Ukraine with combined assets of 370 million dollars.

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This article has been produced as part of the Project „Investigative reporting for transparency in public finance management and government integrity”, which is implemented by Mold-Street.com. No prior permission or copyright is applicable for republication of this piece entirely or in part and no prior agreement from Mold-Street.com is necessary to quote it.

This article has appeared thanks to the generous support of the American people via the U.S. Department of State. The opinions and conclusions herein do not necessarily reflect the stance of the Department of State or the United States Government. 



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