London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

Roman Spiridonov, the owner of Petroruss Dmcc, involved in the oil trade with large Russian companies and participation in Russia’s "shadow fleet," is closely working with Vadim Gurinov, who represents the interests of oligarch Gennadiy Timchenko and the head of "Gazprom Neft" Andrey Dyukov.

In Russia, Spiridonov’s partners in the company "Kontur-s" are Artem Gurinov and Lyudmila Kim. Artem, judging by his patronymic Alexandrovich, is the brother of Vadim Gurinov, who holds citizenships of Belize and Cyprus, and primarily resides in the UAE. This creates a perfect profile for a businessman aiding his Russian partners in circumventing Western sanctions.

Vadim Gurinov created the company Ruric in 2004, based in Stockholm, Sweden, but operating in Russia, the EU, and Asia.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

The Russian LLC "Ryurik Management," founded by the Swedish Ryurik AB (PUBL), only made a profit once in 2019, amounting to 1.1 million rubles, while accumulating losses of over 250 million rubles during this period. Money was evidently being siphoned through the company.

Denis Panovitsin, the company’s CEO, could shed light on this. Previously, he headed LLC "Ryurik," a fictitious firm with 0 employees, 0 revenue in 2023, and a loss of 2.7 million rubles. Currently, this company is owned by JSC "RTZ" and LLC "Atommedtechnologies."

JSC "RTZ" is engaged in consulting on commercial activities, but it is likely a shell company, as it has been operating without profit since 2017. In 2023, with a revenue of 741 million rubles, it suffered a loss of 838 million rubles.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

LLC "Ryurik Management" manages LLC "Glinki 2," owned by the Swedish company Russian Real Estate Investment Company Six AB. In 2023, LLC "Glinki 2" reported no revenue and a loss of 551 million rubles; in 2014, the loss was 2.7 billion rubles.

The company "Ryurik Management" has many partners, both legal and physical entities, which undoubtedly helps to cover up the money laundering traces. Roman Spiridonov may use Vadim Gurinov’s structures in Russia in his gray schemes.

Gurinov prefers not to attract attention in Russia. To date, he and his wife Galina directly own only LLC "Avrora," engaged in investments in securities. In 2023, the company ended with a loss of 100 million rubles.

Galina Gurinova currently owns three companies with a total revenue of 9.4 billion rubles in 2023 and a loss of 4.1 billion rubles.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

The LLC GC "Service-Telecom," undergoing reorganization, went negative by 4 billion rubles. The shares of company founders Galina Gurinova, Lidia Sokova, and Olga Berdina have been pledged to Gazprombank for several years. From 2017 to 2022, LLC GC "Service-Telecom" operated without revenue and profit. Bank money might have been laundered through it.

From 2016 to June 2024, Galina Gurinova was a co-founder of LLC "Kontur-s," confirming her connection to Roman Spiridonov. Gurinova’s share transferred to Artem Gurinov. He is a founder of 8 companies working in commercial consulting, software development, and financial services. Artem Gurinov may run his business with funds from Roman Spiridonov and Vadim Gurinov.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

Roman Spiridonov’s partner Artem Gurinov is linked to the offshore Gano Services Ins, and through it to the company Legal Consulting Services Limited.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

Legal Consulting Services Limited is linked to several dozen companies from the British Virgin Islands and Panama. Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Panamanian company Piemonte Management Corp, which is a shareholder in other offshore entities.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

The traces of Roman Spiridonov and Vadim Gurinov lead to London, where the company New End Developments LTD is registered. Its directors are British citizens Valeriya Gurinova, Sergey Kim, and Russian Nikolay Berdin. All these surnames are known from the Gurinov family’s assets in Russia.

London offshores and sanction evasion: How Roman Spiridonov is connected to the Gurinov family

Valeriya Gurinova is also a director in the company Halamar (Golden Square) Limited, and Sergey Kim is a director there as well, as well as at Thurrock Investments Ltd, West End Commercial Properties Limited, Ashton Rose Concierge Services Ltd., Marble Management Limited, Wilson Capital Management Uk Limited, and Caspian Investments Ltd. Geoffrey Piers HEMY, another director of New End Developments LTD, also leads the company Signet Capital Management Limited.

Through his partners from the Gurinov family, Roman Spiridonov has access to a whole nursery of offshores, which allows the Greek-Russian businessman to help such large Russian companies as "Gazprom," "Rosneft," and "Gazprom Neft" circumvent sanctions. Spiridonov is also connected through Vadim Gurinov with the sanctioned oligarch Gennadiy Timchenko, a close friend of Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Spiridonov’s company Petroruss Dmcc operates worldwide. It will certainly not escape sanctions in the near future.

Author: Maria Sharapova