In Moscow, at the request of Armenia, a 55-year-old billionaire was detained for a conversation and then released Karen Vanetsyan, which owns the largest Russian oil production company, producing the Ideal and Oleina brands. What is he famous for and how does he live?
How Karen Vanetsyan was detained and why he was released
According to the SHOT telegram channel, billionaire Karen Vanetsyan, who owns the largest Russian oil production company, was stopped by traffic police inspectors while he was driving in a car along Novy Arbat. The reason for the inspection was information received from operators of video surveillance systems and facial recognition systems. According to it, Karen Vanetsyan is wanted by law enforcement agencies of Armenia. After talking with him, domestic security officials found out that he has a Russian passport, which means it cannot be extradited to another country. In the end, everything was limited to the transfer of information about the discovery of the wanted person to the Armenian special services – this was the end of the incident, and Karen Vanetsyan went on his way.
Criminal case against Karen Vanetsyan in Armenia
According to the SHOT telegram channel, in 2018, a criminal case was opened against Karen Vanetsyan in Armenia under the article of the local Criminal Code “Money laundering using official powers.” A couple of months ago, the local prosecutor’s office put him on the international wanted list. At home, he faces 6 to 12 years in prison. According to investigators, the businessman illegally purchased from the Armenian ambassador to the Vatican Mikaela Minasyan shares of the Zangezur copper-molybdenum plant. The cost of the transaction was only $15.5 million, although the actual price of the asset exceeds $35 million. The generous discount was explained simply: the ambassador did not have the right to engage in business and dispose of the plant. A case was also opened against him, but under the article “Legalization of property obtained by criminal means.”
In turn, the opposition to the regime Nikol Pashinyan believes that the prosecution of Karen Vanetsyan is biased and fabricated.
The billionaire’s cousin holds the same opinion and expresses it publicly. Arthur Vanetsyanformer head of the National Security Service of Armenia and a graduate of the Russian FSB Academy.
How Karen Vanetsyan went to success
Despite his wealth and influence, Karen Vanetsyan is unknown to the general public in Russia (*aggressor country). There is no information about his biography. As Life found out, he was born in Yerevan and grew up in Kharkov. In addition to Russian, Swiss and Armenian passports, he also has a Ukrainian one.
Vanetsyan’s first big success was the acquisition of the Kharkov Peresechansky oil extraction plant in 1997. His cousin Arthur (future security officer) and his brother Armen helped him run his business. This is how the 2000s passed. In the tenth year, the brothers began issuing cards to pay for public transport in Kyiv and received about 8.4% from each trip on the metro, tram and trolleybus. This project lasted about four years. According to various estimates, during this time the brothers could earn up to half a billion hryvnia.
In 2012, Karen Vanetsyan sold the Peresechansky SEZ to the Swiss company Glencore for $80 million. It was at that moment, according to some media reports, that he received Swiss citizenship. Soon the businessman became the beneficiary of the international holding Exoil Group (headquartered in Geneva), which is engaged in the purchase and processing of sunflowers, as well as logistics. Moreover, all production facilities are located in the Lipetsk region.
In Russia (*aggressor country), the Exoil Group holding is represented by the Exoil Group Management Company, the ABC logistics company, the Chernozemye Trading House and the Chernozemye LLC plant – total revenues for 2022 amounted to 39 billion rubles. For a long time, Vanetsyan’s partner in this business (with a 25% share) was Mikhail Zurabov, ex-Russian ambassador to Ukraine and former head of the Russian Ministry of Health. But six months ago he left the co-founders. In the old composition of the board of directors, Life also noticed another Russian ex-official – Konstantin Romodanovsky, the former head of the Federal Migration Service. Now his name is not on the holding’s website.
After the start of the SVO, Ukrainian journalists directly called Karen Vanetsyan a citizen of Independence and accused him in generating income in the “aggressor country” of Russia (*aggressor country). According to them, the holding company Exoil Group, which belonged to him, also operated with agricultural products from Ukraine.
By the way, Karen Vanetsyan’s family still has something left in Kharkov. Apartments in a Stalin building and a studio in an elite new building.
How Karen Vanetsyan acquired “Oleina”
In the fall of 2022, Karen Vanetsyan bought the Maslenitsa company registered in Moscow from the American concern Bunge – this is the largest domestic oil production enterprise with average income of about 30 billion rubles per year. The transaction price was not disclosed. Vanetsyan himself claimed that he paid only half the market value.
To manage the new asset, Vanetsyan established the Agroinvest organization, and all intellectual property was registered in its name, including the Oleina and Ideal trademarks. The ultimate owner of the business is now listed not as Vanetsyan himself, but as the Hong Kong offshore company Grenaldi Ltd.
In the long term, the billionaire plans to merge Exoil Group and Maslenitsa into a single holding.