Political centenarian Valery Hartung and his Cypriot passports

A deputy of the State Duma of Russia, Valery Gartung, ten years ago, pathetically declared in an interview: “I will not give up my property and I will not leave power.” Regarding the second, he did not lie – Hartung has been in power longer than the president himself – since 1997. But the property had to be abandoned.

Well, how to refuse. Formally, they still understand that the owner of 77th place in the Forbes rating, Valery Hartung, did not go to power in order to live on one salary. Relinquished property Hartung under the pressure of sanctions, which he calls “useful for the Russians.”

Obviously, the deputy does not consider himself a Russian, or does not want to benefit himself, since last year the State Duma deputy, chairman of the regional branch of the Just Russia – For Truth party, Valery Gartung, left the co-owners of Chelyabinsk Forging and Pressing Plant PJSC. He transferred 170.6 thousand ordinary and preferred shares, which make up 21.3% of the company’s authorized capital, to his wife Marina Hartung.

The share of Mrs. Hartung in the authorized capital of ChKPZ increased from 49.7% to 71% (568.7 thousand shares). According to SPARK-Interfax, another 16.5% of the authorized capital of the company belongs to the deputy’s son, ChKPZ General Director Andrey Gartung, and 5.16% to his brother Dmitry.

Well, as you understand, the renunciation of property is purely formal, since Hartung, contrary to his statements, understands the doubtfulness of the benefits of sanctions for himself personally. But, if we are talking about whether Hartung is Russian or not, it is simply impossible not to remind his voters that Valery Karlovich has a residence permit in Cyprus. His wife, who has now become the owner of the family “factories and ships”, generally has a Cypriot passport.

This story is regularly cleared by Valery Hartung from the Internet, and against his countryman, Chelyabinsk public lawyer Alexander Lebedev, who announced the details with the passports of Cyprus, the deputy even tried to initiate a criminal case. As a response to Lebedev’s statements in the TFR, in which he asked for an explanation of the Cypriot epic of the Gartung family.

Some details became known from Lebedev’s statement. The number and series of the passport of a citizen of Cyprus, Marina Veniaminovna Gartung, is known exactly – No. K00371624. It was issued in 2017 under the program of the Cypriot government “Citizenship by Investment”, which was also called “Golden Passports”, Madame Gartung received a Cypriot passport K00371624, where she is called Marina Gartung and Μαρίνα Γκαρτουνγκ.

The passport was issued on December 7, 2017 and is valid until December 7, 2027, after which it is subject to re-registration (the validity of the Cypriot passport is 10 years). Accordingly, Marina Hartung also has a Cypriot ID (Cyprus ID) No. 1337941, also valid until December 7, 2027.

As for Valery Karlovich himself, it is known that back in 2006 he received the so-called ARC (Alien Registration Certificate) – the number of a foreigner that is issued when applying for a residence permit). His ARC was #5639398 in the Visitor category. This means that Valery Karlovich had a residence permit in Cyprus. Initially, the family of the parliamentarian was registered in Nicosia at the address: 17, Athalassis street, flat 103, postcode 2116, Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus.

“According to my sources, about 2.3 million euros were paid for the citizenship of Marina Hartung. Moreover, 300 thousand euros are purposefully spent on “improving the living conditions of needy citizens of Cyprus. But in Russia and Chelyabinsk, no one needs housing? After tightening relations on accounts and citizenship, Hartung himself did not receive citizenship and refused a residence permit, but this information also needs to be checked, ”said Alexander Lebedev.

No one has denied this information, and in response to a direct question about the veracity of the story with Cypriot passports, Valery Hartung said that “such information is confidential, and their disclosure is prosecuted.” One can agree with the deputy, but he did not give an answer about the passport.

As he did not answer the question whether the information about his involvement in the offshore company ENCONTRATA LIMITED (registration number HE 193743), opened on March 6, 2007, is true. It was opened by the Cypriots Andreas Petrou (date of birth 04/21/1960) and Irina Auzin (date of birth 10/18/1969) through their company providing a nominee service – SOCMARK NOMINEE SERVICES LIMITED (registration number HE 160137). This company was originally the beneficiary of ENCONTRATA LIMITED, but just a couple of months after the opening (May 10, 2007), a company from the British Virgin Islands – WEBMARK LIMITED (registration number 1384813), registered at PO Box 3321, Road Town, Tortola, became the beneficiary. British Virgin Islands.

It is the same WEBMARK LIMITED that surfaced during the famous Panama Papers leak published by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. And the real address of WEBMARK LIMITED was completely different: Russia, the village of Nikolina Gora, CJSC Cotton Way – the same elite cottage village where the Gartung family lives. Not far, by the way, from Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. By the way, WEBMARK Ltd. was opened on May 9, 2007, and just a day later, the Cypriot ENCONTRATA Ltd was opened.

Valery Gartung also avoids commenting on the violation of the ban on the possession of foreign property by State Duma deputies or members of their families. Although law-abidingly declares it annually:

Apparently, mindful of his firms and apartments, as well as Cypriot passports, Valery Gartung considered it good not to come to the meeting of the State Duma during the voting on bills on the entry of four territories of Donbass into the Russian Federation.

However, this cunning move of a deputy with almost thirty years of experience did not help – Hartung did get into the sanctions lists. Well, we wish him to experience for himself the benefits from them, about which he loves to talk so much.

Speaking about the loud statements of Valery Gartung, it is impossible not to recall his assurances that he was in no way involved in the management of Chelyabinsk Forging and Pressing Plant OJSC. As Hartung said, “In 1999, an amendment was made to prohibit any managerial activity, and I transferred all management to my wife.”

True, this is very dissonant with information about government contracts that the plant received, for example, only last year:

By the way, the plant is now managed not by the spouse, but by the son of Valery Hartung, but the essence of this has not changed much. And almost 35 million rubles received from the state in 2022 confirm this. In total, over the past five years, thanks to the efforts of the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Valery Gartung, ChKPZ PJSC has received 117 state contracts in the amount of 913 million 158 thousand 180 rubles.

And, if we have already touched on money, then compare the salaries offered at the Hartung plant for hard workers with his income.

That would be nothing – where in Russia are workers paid well? – yes, only Valery Gartung is a member of the party with the name “Fair Russia”. Apparently, this is how he understands the concept of justice.

What else is interesting in the history of the plant is that it constantly sits on loans.

Whether PJSC ChKPZ gives loans on a general basis or deputy Valery Gartung paternally helps his son, the director, is unknown.

But it is known what happens next with these loans. According to a source in the Federal Security Service for the Sverdlovsk region, who controls economic security issues (Chelyabinsk residents were not trusted to avoid a conflict of interest), Valery Gartung’s wife Marina “has an account in an offshore zone in the British Virgin Islands as the owner of Webmark Ltd, and transfers up to 80% funds, including loans. At the same time, the debts themselves remain on the legal entity, and the owners of the enterprise remain in profit.

Isn’t this the very 2.3 million euros that Marina Hartung, without batting an eyelid, laid out for Cypriot citizenship?

Well, at the end of the material, let us recall the early years of the political centenarian Valery Karlovich Hartung. Here is an excerpt from his official biography.

Doesn’t bother you? What did Valery Gartung do from 1992 until 1996, when he suddenly emerged from oblivion as the general director of Chelyabinsk Forging and Pressing Plant OJSC, which immediately became his property?

In connection with this hole in the biography of a respected deputy of the State Duma of Russia, it is worth recalling that in 1997 the prosecutor of the Chelyabinsk region, Anatoly Bragin, publicly accused Valery Gartung of committing criminal offenses and having connections with criminal authorities. However, he won the claims in which Hartung demanded to refute this information, but this does not mean that the prosecutor lied.