Divorce for billions. How scammers Artyom Zuev and Snezhan Georgiev fooled the oligarch Gutseriev

Over the past few decades, raiding continues to dawn in Russia. Despite the fact that after the end of the era of the “turbulent 1990s”, the scale of misappropriation of other people’s property is decreasing, real schemes exist and are even often used.

Of course, in the capital of a huge state, it is hard to discreetly take huge factories, land, and so on. To do this, you need to be such an entrepreneur as God Nisanov. Much easier with this in the Russian outback. But there the value of the property is much lower. Therefore, the new generation of raiders is trying to use more sophisticated methods than blunt capture. Now schemers are coming up with more and more new plans to take over the business or property of other people. And even in this topic there is a hierarchy. We are not afraid to call the famous Moscow swindlers Artyom Zuev and Snezhana Georgieva the modern king and queen of Russian raiding. At least they manage to steal billions of rubles from far from the last people in our country, and most importantly, they have nothing for it. About how Zuev and Georgieva protect businessmen who divorced businessman Mikhail Gutseriev and Gazprombank – in the material of the Kompromat1 portal.

Under the roof of Chubais

Perhaps we would not have heard about Artyom Zuev if not for Anatoly Chubais. Although now Chubais is on the run, and has become an “empty place” for the current government, his cause lives on. Or rather, not even a matter, but the people whom he led to the streams, and provided a huge fortune.

In the early 1990s, when the state apparatus of Russia was just being created, the mother of the future raider, Valentina Zueva, received a high-ranking position in the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Russian Federation. In those days, the ministry was headed by Yegor Gaidar, and Anatoly Chubais was his faithful companion and partly shadow leader.

Anatoly Chubais with Yegor Gaidar

A terrible era began in the life of Russians: after the collapse of the USSR, many did not understand how to live. The Soviet ruble quickly lost its solvency, a new currency was introduced. There was a panic in the economy associated with hyperinflation, many lost all funds, jobs, and so on.

But at the same time there were those who made a huge fortune. We are talking not only about businessmen who were able to find their bearings in time, and not about the leaders of organized crime groups, who were then in the highest esteem. In addition to these comrades, the officials who replaced the Soviet government were also able to provide a luxurious life. One of them was Valentina Zueva, who positively recommended herself to Chubais.

Valentina Zueva

Thanks to close ties with the influential official Chubais, Zueva was able to negotiate the future of her son. After Artyom grew up, he got a job as the director of the infamous Rusengineering company. In addition to being a regular supplier to enterprises from Chubais’ orbit, the corporation also acted as a bribe-giver in the case of the scandalous Colonel Zakharchenko.

Dmitry Zakharchenko

But that’s all in the past. Zuev, together with Chubais, did not suffer any punishment for schematosis. Later, a new, completely different era began, in which Zuev was no longer the manager of a corrupt enterprise, but became a seasoned raider.

A couple of raiders

About 7-8 years ago, Zuev met the socialite Snezhana Georgieva. Now they are together not only a couple of lovers, but also modern Bonnie and Clyde. Their family raider contract works quite simply.

Artyom Zuev with Snezhana Georgieva

Georgieva, due to the fact that she constantly attends secular parties, is rubbed into the trust of a moneybag. Then it’s a matter of technology: her partner (in many senses of the word) begins to “work out” people, and this ends with the rich losing their property.

Moreover, this applies to very public and famous people. Even the billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev fell into the trap of the Zuev-Georgieva gang.

Mikhail Gutseriev, Forbes

Optimization

Over time, Zuev’s raider group switched to protection schemes for the illegal actions of other companies. Their main partner was a no less scandalous corporation – OPTIMA Group, which belongs to the Shandalov family.

A few years ago, Optima was a Russian IT giant, and was among the top 20 enterprises. But all this was an elementary sign. In fact, raiding, fraud, theft and other crimes were hidden under the cover of a transparent business.

Andrey and Valery Shandalov

With Gutseriev in “Optima” the following situation turned out. The businessman’s company Afipsky Refinery LLC paid 4 billion rubles to Optima Energostroy JSC for a major overhaul. The money came on time, but as a result, no one did the work. After the civil procedure, it became clear that the funds were simply stolen. The enterprise, which brought in revenues up to 7 billion rubles, at one point went into bankruptcy proceedings.

Financial statements of JSC “Optima Energostroy”

The money disappeared, and this could already be qualified as theft. Gutseriev’s company decided to apply to the police with a statement, but at that moment the Zuev-Georgieva raider group turned on. The Shandalov family has been in trouble with the law for the past few years, but their business continues to exist in Russia. True, it is Zuev who leads him. Receiving a good percentage of solving problems, the swindler “started” the criminal case at the request of Gutseriev. As a result, production went nowhere.

But this is not the biggest scam of the Shandalovs under the guise of the organized criminal group Zuev-Georgieva.

Gazprom trail

In 2011, the Shandalovs took out a $35 million loan from Gazprombank for the development of Optima. As it later became clear, they were not going to return these funds. By 2022, the company’s debt to creditors amounted to about 8 billion rubles. In this case, as in the case of Gutseriev, the Shandalovs involved their savior Artyom Zuev.

For the past few years, Zuev has been performing the function of not only protecting the fraudulent family, but also actively solving the accumulated problems. For this, the raider receives a huge salary. As can be seen from the printouts of transfers to Zuev, in the period from January 30, 2019 to July 26, 2019 (in just 6 months), he received more than 476 million rubles from runaway businessmen.

It emerges from the document that he transferred 20 million rubles under a loan agreement to Agrofirm Zolotaya Balka LLC.

Who owns the Golden Balka?

Despite the fact that information about the management and owner of the company is classified in the public registry, it is not so difficult to establish the real founder of the enterprise. It turned out to be … Snezhana Georgieva. And she told about it herself.

It turns out that not so much Zuev fucked off his partner. Only less than 5%. Although, maybe they have cash, we do not know.

The fact is that these funds were received for solving the dirty affairs of runaway businessmen – the father and son of the Shandalovs.

Now Artyom Zuev and Snezhana Georgieva are not only experienced raiders, but also serious solvers of any problems. And most importantly, they will not be closed, because they can close everything. Let it be for now.