Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

37-year-old Ekaterina Koba, a former model and now a blogger, carefully tries not to publicize her partner.

Ekaterina was born in Murmansk. But when the girl was little, her parents divorced, and her mother moved with her two daughters to Minsk.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

In the 2010s, Ekaterina Koba was a significant figure in the Belarusian beau monde. She was a successful model, had hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, and hosted TV shows — first on "Belarus 1", then on "BelMusTV".

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina also appeared in the first version of Max Korzh’s music video for the song "Nebo pomozhet nam". She even tried recording a humorous song called "Shtuchka".

The petite blonde so resembled the famous doll that she began to be called the "Belarusian Barbie". Koba successfully used this — even launching her own website, Barbie.by.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina was married to businessman Vitaliy Gamzovich, who dealt in auto parts. The couple had a son.

But at some point, the Instagram-perfect picture of beautiful love changed — gradually, joint photos with Vitaliy disappeared from the model’s social media. In 2018, Ekaterina admitted that she had gotten divorced. Exactly when this happened is unknown.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Gradually, Koba disappeared from the Belarusian beau monde. It seems Ekaterina’s last moment in the spotlight was in 2020. She made international headlines due to an absurd situation. At the height of the pandemic, Ekaterina began claiming that a badge hanging around her neck protected against viruses. She said such a blocker was hard to get, and that a friend had given her this miracle protection.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

In recent years, Ekaterina Koba has been living in Switzerland. She has her own clothing brand — mainly sportswear for yoga. Offline, these items can be purchased in stores in Minsk and Moscow.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina vacations at expensive hotels, spends time in the Maldives, and flaunts designer items like a Chanel handbag.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina’s Instagram has 440,000 followers. Recently, she shared happy news with her subscribers: she posted a video in which she, wearing a white dress, places a wedding ring on the ring finger of her right hand.

"The happiest and most exciting day," Koba captioned the reel.

Her friend from Minsk — famous Belarusian hairstylist and makeup artist Ekaterina Sycevich, also a popular blogger with 114,000 Instagram followers — flew in to do the bride’s celebratory makeup.

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Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

On the walls of the rooms where Ekaterina filmed the video, one can see the famous photograph by British photographer and director Zana Briski (known for her wildlife photography projects and as co-director of the documentary "Born into Brothels"), as well as a painting likely created by artist Mike Dargas (a prominent figure in contemporary German hyperrealism).

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Given the amount of men’s clothing in the background, the filming likely did not take place in a hotel. Rather, it was probably in the home of a person who loves and appreciates art.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina did not answer subscribers’ questions about who the groom is. One subscriber wrote: "I’ve been following you since the Vitalik days, have you been alone all this time?" Koba’s friend replied: "All this time she was with the best man, whom she married." Ekaterina liked this comment.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Commenters even went to the Instagram page of Ekaterina’s first husband to inform him about her wedding. Vitaliy responded: "Katyusha has already been married for seven years, yesterday was just the formal part of their wonderful relationship."

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Koba carefully hides her beloved. The only thing she allowed herself to share was a joint caricature drawn during Oktoberfest.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

However, several details suggest that the new husband may be Russian millionaire Alexander Smuzikov. The 54-year-old Alexander Smuzikov fundamentally does not give interviews. It seems he made an exception only once, for Forbes, answering a few of their questions in writing. In 2013, Smuzikov was included in the list of Russia’s richest businessmen — at number 169. At that time, according to the magazine’s estimates, he had $600 million.

For a long time, it was impossible to find even photographs of the millionaire — journalists couldn’t locate any, even from the businessman’s former partners.

But several photos eventually made it online — all thanks to Alexander Smuzikov’s hobby. He is very fond of hunting, so he is willing to pose with unusual trophies like a hippopotamus.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Another passion of Smuzikov’s is art. He is one of the largest collectors of the Russian avant-garde.

Works by Marc Chagall are also in the Russian businessman’s collection. This year, they were exhibited in Tashkent — Smuzikov occasionally allows museums to display his paintings.

Alexander is also described as a philanthropist who supports young artists.

How did Alexander amass his fortune? Forbes begins its account of Smuzikov’s life journey by noting that in 1989 (Alexander was born in Yekaterinburg and had just graduated from school in Moscow), he was sentenced to three years for robbery — the young man snatched a fur hat from a passerby. Such hats were expensive at the time. His second conviction was for illegal weapons possession.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

In the mid-1990s, Smuzikov became a partner of oil trader Alexander Krasnobolov. Their company, "Tradex," was involved in a straightforward business that enriched dozens of people connected to post-Soviet power elites: they bought crude oil, sent it for refining to refineries in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and then sold the petroleum products to Western markets.

The first milestone of Smuzikov’s real success, according to the magazine, was 2008 — when the businessman pulled off a major deal, quite profitably selling a chain of gas stations to TNK-BP.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Smuzikov is on the far right

Currently, as the media reports, Alexander lives in Switzerland, in the city of St. Gallen. In addition to his Russian passport, he holds an Israeli passport.

In 2023, Ukrainian media, which label Smuzikov as an oligarch close to the Russian authorities, reported that he was attempting to obtain Portuguese citizenship (having filed documents in 2020).

Little is known about what business Alexander is currently involved in. Last year, for example, it was reported that he is one of the largest players in the Russian microcredit market.

Rumors of a romance between Ekaterina Koba and Alexander Smuzikov had been circulating for years. But all evidence of their relationship is circumstantial.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina Koba carefully hides her man

For example, Ekaterina Koba shared Instagram posts from that very same city, St. Gallen. Last year, she met with her friend in Switzerland — the friend also posted videos from this less-than-touristy city.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Ekaterina has her own clothing brand. According to the website rusprofile.ru, her individual entrepreneur business is registered in Russia, in the Tver region, Konakovsky district, in the picturesque village of Edimonovskie Gorki.

The hunting club "Kzhatskie Prostory," owned by Alexander Smuzikov, is registered in the same place.

By the way, Ekaterina periodically advertises the "Edomonovo Village" recreation base on Instagram, which is located in the same village, standing on the upper reaches of the Dvina River. It appears that Smuzikov is also the owner of this base — as "Edomonovo Village" is connected to one of his companies.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Information online indicates that Alexander Smuzikov was married — and three children were born from that marriage, but according to sources, he has long since officially divorced.

On Instagram, Ekaterina and her son Timur follow Smuzikov’s son.

Separate attention is deserved by the former spouse of Ekaterina Koba — Vitaliy Koba (Gamzovich). According to data from the law enforcement agencies of Belarus, he is wanted on charges of committing a crime under part 2 of article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (tax evasion).

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

According to information from open sources, the amount of unpaid taxes exceeds 500 thousand dollars. Previously, the name of Vitaliy Koba also appeared in a criminal case related to debt obligations. It was reported that in 2015 he borrowed a large sum of money from acquaintances against a receipt.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels

After the divorce from Ekaterina Koba, he moved to Russia, where, according to media reports, he continued to engage in business. The history of their marriage and subsequent separation has repeatedly become a subject of discussion in the press and social networks.

Course to Switzerland and micro-loans: Ekaterina Koba tied her life to a 54-year-old ex-convict, hiding her chosen one’s face behind caricatures and hotels