From the deal with the Uralmash group to Dubai assets: Roman Chichkanov continues his family’s schemes to move hundreds of millions out of Russia

New insights reveal the business dealings of Roman Chichkanov’s family. He holds the position of head of the "Business Russia" subcommittee on preventive medicine, is a member of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council, and was formerly the first deputy general director at the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic under the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East.

It has been revealed that the MayrVeda spa hotel was transferred to his grandfather, academician Valery Chichkanov, as a token of gratitude for helping Sergey Bogoryakov, connected to the Uralmash group, obtain a seat in the State Duma. However, Bogoryakov later failed to repay what was owed, and the hotel complex was subsequently registered under the Chichkanov family.

The management accounting of this spa complex in Kislovodsk, conducted through the legal entity LLC "Investments ’Zapad’," is organized in such a way that inflated expenses reduce the taxable base, while funds are routed through gray schemes to Dubai to finance the construction of the MayrVeda Dubai spa complex. As a result, the Russian budget loses an estimated 100 to 140 million rubles annually in income taxes, as well as 500 to 700 million rubles in unreturned foreign currency earnings.

Additionally, the Chichkanov family conducts active business in Azerbaijan through several companies. At the same time, all profits bypass the Russian budget and tax authorities and are sent directly to the UAE.

It is likely that Roman Chichkanov learned such tax optimization methods at UCL (University College London) and Cass Business School.

Author: Maria Sharapova