На русском языке:
Мнение. «Белорусский порядок» про нового посла РФ в Беларуси, бизнес-империю и интеграцию
На беларускай мове:
Меркаванне. «Беларускі парадак» пра новага пасла РФ у Беларусі, бізнэс-імперыю і інтэграцыю
The telegram channel «Belarusian Order» published a post in which its authors tell the facts from the biography of a new Ambassador of Russia to Belarus — Boris Gryzlov. As well as about the Russian business empire of immigrants from Belarus, which may be associated with the family of Alexander Lukashenka. We quote the opinion unchanged.
There are several interesting facts in the biography of Boris Gryzlov, a new Russian Ambassador to Belarus. In addition to his serious position in the Russian bureaucratic hierarchy, he is associated with the security forces. In 2001-2003 he was the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and his childhood friend is Nikolai Patrushev, the former head of the FSB, now he is the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. This is important in the context of the following fact.
We are talking about the Moscow business empire of immigrants from Belarus, Yury and Aleksei Khotins. Initially, they were engaged in the production of cosmetic products («Belcosmeks»). In the late 90s, they entered the real estate market in Moscow, and were also engaged in the production of household chemicals. Judging by the pieces of information, they took away not the best real estate and not in the most honest ways, until in 2009 Vladimir Naumov, the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and the former head of the Presidential Security Service, moved to Moscow.
After his appearance, the Business of the Khotins went up. Their projects received loans on the most favorable terms, bought the best objects in Moscow worth hundreds million dollars. They bought several oil companies, Ugra bank (included in the top-30 in the Russian Federation). The total value of all assets at the peak was estimated at almost a billion dollars.
However, then everything ended abruptly — the bank revealed a colossal embezzlement of hundreds billion rubles, Khotin Jr. was taken under house arrest and spends all his time at trials. You can read more here.
But what was the secret of the success of the business empire? They enjoyed the patronage of Russian senior leadership. In the 2000s, the allmighty Elena Baturina, Luzhkov’s wife, promoted the Khotins. Then Naumov connected his contacts – he was a friend of Boris Gryzlov, whom he met at a friendly football match, and an acquaintance of Khotin Sr.
According to Forbes, it was Gryzlov who persuaded the largest Russian banks to issue risky loans to the Khotins. Among them was Rosselhozbank, which was headed by Patrushev’s son Dmitry. And most likely, it was the high patrons who helped Khotin Jr. not to go to prison, despite the amount of damage with an exorbitant number of zeros.
And here is a fork where the materials of the sources differ. (Further– assumptions and speculations).
Some sources claim that the business of the Khotins allegedly was actually the business of the Lukashenka clan. Khotin Sr. in the 90s was in the inner circle of the young Lukashenka, and at that time the head of the Presidential Affairs Department Titenkov helped with the move to Moscow. The patronage of Baturina-Luzhkov, who had good personal contacts with Lukashenka, also testifies in favor of this version.
On the other hand, Naumov left for Moscow after the conflict with Viktor Lukashenka, simultaneously taking a lot of kompromat on Lukashenka Sr. This gave him access to the top of the Russian power bloc. I can't imagine how Lukashenka would allow him gain benefit from his business after that, but in matter of power and big money, anything is possible.
There is also the third version, where the Khotins’ business was not directly connected with the Lukashenka clan, and was promoted directly due to the connections developed by Yuri and Alexey Khotins. And when they completely lost their sense of proportion with their ‘Hoover’ bank, they were closed.
What about that? The appearance of Gryzlov is a sign that Russians have taken integration seriously. And besides, given his history of interaction with the «Belarusian group» (let’s call it like that), Lukashenka will definitely have an alarming signal that he is not the only Belarusian in their orbit.
By the way, fragments of the materials brought by Naumov were published in one telegram channel of the anti-Lukashenka group, entrenched in Moscow. And something tells me that soon their encryption will be replenished with fresh exclusives.
