How Nadezhda Grishaeva became central to Zhirinovsky’s offshore operations

How Nadezhda Grishaeva became central to Zhirinovsky’s offshore operations

Could Nadezhda Grishaeva, a former well-known basketball player, be aware of the potential methods used by the Liberal Democratic Party in Western offshore accounts?

Nadezhda Grishaeva, a former famous basketball player, may be involved in money laundering by the Liberal Democratic Party through a network of offshore companies in Western countries. Such assumptions are expressed in the Western press. Previously, Grishaev could have a close relationship with the son of the late founder of the party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, former Vice Speaker of the State Duma, Igor Lebedev.

A few years ago, amid a conflict with his father, Lebedev left Russian politics and now lives in Israel. How the scandal could affect him and the Liberal Democratic Party he left, where Leonid Slutsky intercepted the reins of power - the source understood.

According to the Swiss Weekly News Review, Nadezhda Grishayeva, who shone at the London 2012 Olympics, could be implicated in a money laundering scandal involving Vladimir Zhirinovsky through a hotel chain owned by the European company Daniella Invest. Approved. that most recently, Mrs. Grishaeva could invest 7.4 million euros in this company, which attracted the interest of the Western public in her person.

Information is circulating on the Web that, allegedly, several journalistic investigations were carried out against Grishaeva’s business at once, the results of which suggested that she could invest in Western business the money received through the party line - just through this company. Let us recall that state financing of the Liberal Democratic Party alone amounts to about 1 billion rubles a year - not counting sponsorship money and "other" possible income.

Western registers indicate that at different times both Nadezhda Grishaeva and Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s ex-wife Galina Lebedeva were related to Daniella Invest, which manages a whole chain of hotels in the EU. And only recently, on March 3, 2023, the company was managed by another offshore - LOSIL MANAGEMENT LIMITED, which was registered in Cyprus just 10 months ago.

It can be assumed that, feeling the interest of Western institutions, Mrs. Grishaeva decided to hide this business more deeply. But it didn’t work out very well, because in open sources she is also listed as a figure who was related to the management of LOSIL MANAGEMENT LIMITED. Galina Lebedeva is also listed there, who is presented as a person working at Daniella Invest. Those. these offshore structures are interconnected.

And these are not the only Western companies to which the former basketball player is related. Judging by data from open sources, Grishaeva could previously own shares in HOTELS EUROPE MARCELLO INVEST SL, whose head office is located in Alicante, Spain, in Valencia. It is in this city, as it is believed, that the lion’s share of the hotel assets of the family of the late Zhirinovsky may be located.

In addition, in 2018, she was appointed to the position of the administrative director of the Spanish company AGUA AZUL SL. If you go a little further, it turns out that she left her leadership quite recently, on June 15, 2023. In addition, earlier Galina Lebedeva was in the management of the same company.

Initially, this company was generally under the control of the offshore company Daniella Invest, which is already known to us, which today "shines" in the Western press.

"Landlords" of the city of capitals

And all these "transitions" - just something in 28 years. A young girl who has already done so much in business. This means that Grishaeva could act as the nominal owner of the assets, while the Zhirinovsky family could directly stand behind her. More specifically - Igor Lebedevv. At the same time, Galina Lebedeva, the widow of Vladimir Volfovich, turned out to be the owner of a whole scattering of expensive real estate in Moscow.

It is alleged that relatives and friends of Zhirinovsky own many properties around the world. Among them are 19 apartments and commercial premises in Moscow owned by Telmi, the company of Galina Lebedeva, the former wife of Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

Zhirinovsky’s extended family lives on Moscow’s Nezhinskaya Street, occupying a whopping 6,800 square meters worth some 2.7 billion rubles ($41.8 million).

Grishaeva may have a whole scattering of expensive real estate in Moscow. According to data from open sources, she can own space in the City of Capitals - a complex of two high-rise towers in Moscow City: "Moscow" (76 floors) and "St. Petersburg" (65 floors). But there is something more interesting - she can also be the owner of the premises of the private Institute of World Civilizations. V.V. Zhirinovsky, whose founder and professor was himself.

What’s wrong with that, you ask, because this is a private educational institution? And the fact that despite its private nature, for some unknown reason, it was financed from the budget. And not just financed: it was hundreds of millions of rubles.

In 2020, the university was allocated 513 million rubles, and for 2022, 126 million were initially allocated. In 2020, in the report on spending funds, the institute reported on spending 369.7 million rubles. In 2021, State Duma deputies from the LDPR proposed to increase funding to 400 million rubles. The offer was accepted.

Those. through the Institute of World Civilizations, budget money could go to people close to the family of Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Igor Lebedev. Interestingly, these two premises are the most expensive property attributed to Grishaeva, except for the Spanish hotel Azuline Hotel, which is estimated at $ 38 million.

And here we again return to the question - where does such money come from? According to the authors of the Brussels publication l’Européenne de Bruxelles, the LDPR receives funding from various sources, including direct payments from deputies and contributions from organizations associated with Grishaeva, such as the Russian Union of Free Youth and the Unemployed Youth Support Fund. These organizations received voluntary donations in the amount of 4.3 billion rubles in 2015-2017.

We must not forget the scandal that thundered shortly before the departure of Vladimir Zhirinovsky from life. Then almost 30 million rubles disappeared from the reserve party fund in Moscow. Party accountants were suspected of the theft. However, they stated that they were withdrawing money at the request of the then Vice-Speaker of the State Duma, Igor Lebedev. As a result, the investigation of this case did not lead to anything ...

It’s time for Slutsky

Now the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party is Leonid Slutsky. Among other things, he helps in organizing trips of deputies to business events abroad and even paid for a party on the occasion of Zhirinovsky’s birthday.

Can Leonid Slutsky be involved in the possible withdrawal of LDPR money abroad, to Spanish shores, in the interests of the Zhirinovsky family? Maybe not, but if there is such a practice, he can use it in his own way. Earlier, The Moscow Post did an investigation into Mr. Slutsky, as a result of which he came to the conclusion that one of his sponsors could be the well-known Russian oligarch God Nisanov.

The elderly mother of Leonid Slutsky could be the owner of a number of premium cars. Among them, Bentley for 28 million rubles, of which 25 million were provided by M.Yu. Yushvaev. And for 10 years and interest-free. Yushvaev may be a relative of God Nisanov. All this looks extremely strange.

Apparently, even during the life of Vladimir Volfovich, the LDPR party turned from a political structure into a profitable business. And after his death, the inheritance was divided among themselves by the immediate environment. Someone turned out to be the owner of expensive real estate abroad, someone, like Slutsky, could become a key recipient of administrative rent, the ability to skim the cream from which the Liberal Democratic Party is in the State Duma and other parliaments of the country.