A man named Adolfas Kaminskas is little known not only in Russia, but also in his native Lithuania. His modest Motoideja business selling mopeds and moped parts did not bring much income. But a few years ago, Kaminskas began to get rich fantastically fast, eventually becoming the beneficiary of several Lithuanian enterprises in different parts of Vilnius, which own assets worth about 20 million euros. The sudden enrichment coincided with the marriage of Kaminskas to Elena Shebunovamothers of illegitimate children Sergei Shoigu, who earned millions on contracts of the Ministry of Emergencies and the Ministry of Defense. The Kaminskas family invested heavily in Lithuania right up to the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is a joint article by The Insider (Sergey Yezhov) and Siena/OCCRP (Sarunas Cerniauskas)
Kaminskas has never been a millionaire. His only business was Motoideja, a small shop founded in 2004 in a Soviet-era residential area in Vilnius that sold mopeds, motorcycles and parts for them. In the latest annual report, Motoideja revealed its 2019 and 2020 sales. In total, the proceeds amounted to 94 euros. The store told us that it no longer belongs to Kaminskas and that they know him but haven’t seen him for many years because he moved to Russia.
In Russia, he found his love – Elena Shebunova (now Elena Kaminskas), a former flight attendant. As The Insider reported in 2019, Shebunova had an affair (and common children) with Sergei Shoigu. Coincidentally, Shebunova earned her fortune on government contracts related to the Ministry of Emergency Situations (during the period when Shoigu headed it) and the Ministry of Defense.
During 2017, according to The Insider, the romantic relationship between Shebunova and Shoigu ended. Shortly thereafter, Elena became friends with Adolfas Kaminskas. She changed her last name in the Russian database of legal entities from Shebunova to Kaminskas in 2019, but officially the marriage could have been concluded earlier.
According to data received from Rosreestr, in 2020 Shebunova gave her husband an estate in Zhukovka. On October 5, 2022, Adolfas Kaminskas returned the property to his wife under a gift agreement.
The only company owned by Adolfas Kaminskas in Russia is called “A.E. Invest”. It was established in August 2019 and registered at the address of a Moscow restaurant owned by Kaminskas’s wife (Minskaya Street, 10). The authorized capital of A.E. Invest is 1 million rubles (€16 thousand). According to the financial statements, the company ended 2020 and 2021 with losses: 4 and 4.8 million rubles, respectively (€64,000 and €76,000 as losses).
In 2021 Adolfas Kaminskas registered as an individual entrepreneur (the main activity is “Purchase and sale of own real estate”). Thus, the entire Russian business appeared with him after his marriage.
Data obtained by The Insider shows that Kaminskas’ Russian passport is first mentioned in the Russian registry in April 2022. It is not clear exactly when he received citizenship and whether he still has a Lithuanian passport. The new construction site with a future warehouse office is now owned by Foreksas, registered in August 2022. The actual owner of Foreksas is Paulius Kveselaitis, the owner of Homa Group. Kveselaitis also bought Despecto and Pandos Investicijos from Kaminskas. Both companies were transferred at the same time, on September 15, 2022.
“We don’t check things like that”
In a telephone interview with Siena, Kveselaitis said that he knew nothing about the origin of Kaminskas’ capital, nor about reports of his wife’s alleged affair with Shoigu. “We do not check such things. <...> Banks should do this, they probably check the origin of the money,” he said.
According to Kveselaitis, Kaminskas was not the main source of development funding. “It was financed by banks, Adolfas Kaminskas was not the main [источником]. He was a business partner,” Kveselaitis said. He argued that the withdrawal of Kaminskas from the Lithuanian enterprises was not a sudden decision. “We broke up this summer. <...> We have bought part of it in some of the projects you mentioned and are moving on alone,” he explained.
He declined to disclose how much money Kaminskas received for the business he recently sold. “I cannot comment on this. It’s hard for me to say whether he made money or lost it. I can’t tell you that,” Kveselaitis replied. When asked if Russian capital was involved in the construction of real estate, he repeated that he could not disclose this.
We found two numbers to call Kaminskas: one in Russia and one in Lithuania. However, both numbers no longer worked. At the time of this posting, Kaminskas has not responded to an emailed request for comment.
The Insider phoned Elena Kaminskas (formerly Shebunova) and asked if she was helping her current husband with his investments in Vilnius. “You know, Sergey, I don’t comment either on my husband or on someone else’s husband. Therefore, I will not answer your questions. Write like this: I declined to comment,” she said.
The Insider, 10/16/2022, “Shoigu’s daughter found Lithuanian citizenship – LRT”: The illegitimate daughter of Sergei Shoigu is a citizen of Lithuania, according to LRT in your investigation. She was granted citizenship in 2019 after the former mistress of the Russian Defense Minister, the mother of his children, Elena Kaminskas (Shebunova), married Lithuanian Adolfas Kaminskas. He recognized her as his daughter and submitted an application to the Lithuanian Migration Department.
As The Insider previously wrote, Shebunova and Shoigu have two illegitimate children, Daria and Danila. Shebunova herself, a Russian citizen, received a Lithuanian residence permit in 2017, but she lost it in the summer of 2022 and is now suing the Lithuanian authorities. She appealed against the decision to the Migration Department, but the consideration of the case in the Vilnius District Administrative Court has not yet been scheduled. The State Security Department told the LRT publication that it had submitted to the Migration Department an opinion on the undesirability of the presence of Elena Kaminskas in the Republic of Lithuania, as she could pose a threat to the national security of the state due to ties with Russian subjects. Over the past two years, Elena Shebunova left Lithuania at least twice for more than 6 months, and in August of this year, she and her husband Adolfas Kaminskas announced their departure from Lithuania to the Russian Federation, the authors of the investigation write. — Inset K.ru