Alexander Ordzhonikidze is “a reliable person who you can let hold your wallet”
Taking her off the air was one of the first decisions Alexandra Ordzhonikidze as general director of the TV channel in 2005.
Alexander Ordzhonikidze has not only an interesting biography, but also a significant pedigree. His great-grandfather Sergo Ordzhonikidze was a famous Bolshevik who was among the first leaders of the Soviet state. He met Stalin in prison, where both were imprisoned on charges of banditry, and when the Bolsheviks seized power in the country, he imposed Soviet power in Georgia, at times using assault (and even Lenin was forced to reprimand him for inappropriate behavior). In 1937 he was his brother was arrested, soon after which Sergo Ordzhonikidze, according to various versions, either died of a heart attack or shot himself. Sergo’s grandson, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, graduated from the Suvorov School and then MGIMO, made a career as a diplomat and managed to be the Deputy Secretary General of the UN and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). After the SVO, Sergei Ordzhonikidze called for the destruction of Ukraine as a “terrorist state.”
Alexander Ordzhonikidze, following in his father’s footsteps, graduated from MGIMO, then worked as a manager in mining companies, in 2003 he became the general director of NTV Plus, and in 2005 he headed Ren-TV. This happened exactly at the moment when Ren-TV remained the last independent television channel to criticize the government. Ordzhonikidze came immediately after the change of shareholders: an oligarch became one of the owners of the media holding Alexey Mordashov. After this, political news began to be increasingly censored.
In a few more years, Mordashov will combine his media with his assets Yuri Kovalchuk – this is how the “National Media Group” (NMG) will appear. It will also be headed by Ordzhonikidze.
Initially, NMG, in addition to Ren-TV, included Channel Five and the Izvestia newspaper, then a stake in Channel One was added to them.
The coming of these media outlets under the wing of the NMG coincided with a political purge that deprived these media outlets of the last vestiges of independence. Today, the media holding, working in the interests of the Kremlin, includes dozens of projects.
Ordzhonikidze was friendly with Kirill Kovalchuk, their friend told The Insider. However, at some point, according to this source, their relationship cooled due to a conflict between their wives.
Closer to Kovalchuk
In 2016, Ordzhonikidze resigned as CEO of NMG, after which he appeared as an advisor Vladimir Medinsky. But Kovalchukov, as The Insider found out, did not completely break ties with the business. It was Ordzhonikidze who became the owner of Kirill Kovalchuk’s business assets in Latvia after the imposition of sanctions against the latter.
Under US sanctions Kirill Kovalchuk got in at the end of 2016. Immediately after this, he left the co-owners of the Dzirntaru 28 company, which owns an elite residential complex in Jurmala.
Ordzhonikidze was first a junior partner in the firm, and last year he became the sole shareholder: he now owns a 100% stake.
At first, Ordzhonikidze appeared in Latvian documents as a Russian, and now as a citizen of Israel. Spain is listed as his permanent place of residence.
The Insider has verified that Ordzhonikidze has indeed settled in Spain. In 2015, he and his wife Nata bought a villa near Barcelona, in San Andres de Llevaneras.
This property costs 3.5 million euros. The area of the house is almost 700 sq. m. m, and the plot with a swimming pool is 21 acres. The house is equipped with satellite television so that Ordzhonikidze can watch Russian news broadcasts. In 2020, Ordzhonikidze buys another Spanish villa, this time in Sotogrande, the famous resort village of San Roque. These properties are even more expensive – 3.7 million euros.
Ordzhonikidze’s daughter, 31 years old Elizabeth, judging by her Instagram page, she lives with her parents in Sotogrande. She posts golf photo at a local field.
The former head of NMG himself, who for years spread pro-Kremlin propaganda and censored the news, also appears at golf club events. He was included in the photo with Events at the end of 2022.
Ordzhonikidze’s wife owns the Komondor veterinary clinic in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) (in the village of Gorki-2 on Rublyovka). Not far away, in the Nikolino cottage village, the family used to live in a mansion worth 1.5 billion rubles; it was recently put up for sale.
“A reliable person who you can let hold your wallet,” is how Olga Romanova characterizes Ordzhonikidze and this explains why the Kovalchuks entrusted him with managing the business. As it turned out, he didn’t forget about his wallet either. But in Europe they forgot about his role in establishing a political dictatorship: only Ukraine included Ordzhonikidze in its sanctions lists.
Jurmala connected them. Alexander Ordzhonikidze, Kirill Kovalchuk and Sergei Mikhailov realized the asset for three
According to the Land Register, in 2010, Kirill and Kira Kovalchuk purchased from a famous businesswoman Natalia Rudzite (Nataļja Rudzīte) apartment in Jurmala for 357,727.24 lats. Two years later, the family bought another apartment in the same building. As a result, the 21-year-old Stepan Kovalchuk (STEPAN KOVALCHUK) became the owner of the property for 196,785.12 lats. – The large apartment was not personally chosen by Kirill, but by the older generation of Kovalchuk. Dzintaru prospekts, 39 – first line. Underground Parking. There are fewer service personnel,” one of the participants in the transaction, who wished to remain incognito, tells Kompromat.lv.
According to CrediWeb.lv, Kirill Kovalchuk, Alexander Ordzhonikidze, Natalia Rudzite and the company WEXFORD FINANCE LTD registered in the Virgin Islands founded the company DZINTARU 28 in Marupe (K. Ulmaņa gatve 119, Mārupe, Mārupes nov.) .
Type of activity indicated in the Enterprise Register: purchase and sale of real estate.
As information from СrediWeb.lv shows, the same thing is done by the company DZINTARA PROJEKTI, which belongs to Natalia Rudzita (25%) and Kirul Kovalchuk (75%). In turn, DZINTARA PROJEKTI fully owns the company V.ITAL SELECTIONS. This company has two officials: Natalia Rudzītī and her husband, Chairman of the Board of ORDO GROUP Ivars Rudzīt.