On February 23, the head of the Interregional Fuel Union, Vyacheslav Rovneiko, was found dead in his Rublev mansion. He stood at the origins of Russian oil exports, had a joint business with Boris Yeltsin’s son-in-law, while deliberately remaining a non-public figure. Therefore, the death of Vyacheslav Rovneiko would hardly have attracted such attention, if not for one fact – he has already become the eighth oil and gas tycoon who died over the past year under very ambiguous circumstances.
There is not much information about Vyacheslav Rovneiko in the public domain, but even the available information is enough to imagine the scale of his personality. He started trading in oil back in the 80s, working in the Belgian representative office of Sovnefteexport. The collapse of the USSR, which became a tragedy for the vast majority of the country’s citizens, opened up wide opportunities for well-connected functionaries. As follows from the biography, in 1992, the 28-year-old Rovneiko, together with a number of partners, founded the Urals group of companies (it is significant that the trade name for Soviet oil became the name for it).
In archival publications, one can find a mention that one of the founders of the company was a certain Andrei Pannikov, a former employee of the Soviet trade mission in Stockholm. They wrote about him that in 1988 he was expelled from Sweden for industrial espionage, after which Pannikov only vaguely laughed off questions from journalists about belonging to the KGB. Nevertheless, you can imagine what kind of connections and opportunities you need to have in order to create the first independent company in the country to sell oil abroad.
So, apparently, it was not without reason that opinions appeared that Urals Energy was born not from scratch, but with the sanction of the chief of foreign intelligence of the KGB, Leonid Shebarshin, as a cover for studying shadow export channels. Urals included the largest oil shipping company Volgotanker, as well as the Kirishi Oil Refinery. As noted by Forbes, it was from there that Gennady Timchenko, who was friends with Pannikov, began his business. It was also Pannikov who ensured that Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis signed a decree on the establishment of LUKOIL and the issuance of an export license to it, for which Urals got the opportunity to sell LUKOIL’s oil.
Thus, already in 1993, the turnover of Urals Trading exceeded $2 billion, and the company itself controlled a 10th part of Russian oil exports, while remaining in the shadows. The secret of success, apparently, was explained simply. In 1999, journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin reported that Danish financial tycoon Jan Bonde Nielsen was forced to “voluntarily-compulsorily” sell shares in the Komi oil company Tebukneft to a firm associated with Boris Yeltsin’s family. In particular, they discussed the participation in the business of Alexei Dyachenko, the husband of the president’s youngest daughter Tatiana. It was noted that the transaction went through offshore zones and was not registered in Russia. The Kremlin then denied this. However, at the beginning of the 2000s, Urals Energy decided to go public on the London Stock Exchange, in connection with which it had to disclose its shareholders.
It was then that it turned out that one of the co-owners of the company was indeed Aleksey Dyachenko. However, by that time Yeltsin was already on vacation after his voluntary resignation, and completely different people determined the alignment on the Russian oil market. It is probably for this reason that Rovneiko and his business partners sold their mining assets to LUKOIL.
Already in 1993, the turnover of Urals Trading exceeded 2 billion dollars, and the company itself controlled a 10th part of Russian oil exports, while remaining in the shadows.
In 2006, Vyacheslav Rovneiko took 308th place in the Forbes rating (3.2 billion dollars of personal capital). In the future, he acted as a co-owner of the oil trading company Nafta (B) NV registered in Belgium, and also owned a large floriculture farm in the Kaluga region and developed a mining and metallurgical complex for the production of ferromanganese in Krasnoyarsk (both projects subsequently went bankrupt). At the same time, Rovneiko continued to hold the post of head of the Interregional Fuel Union, in connection with which there are opinions that the former first trader of Russia did not leave the oil export market and, taking into account his past ties, he could well act as a negotiator or, as they used to say, a “pusher” .
Be that as it may, you will not ask Rovneiko himself. On the evening of February 23, he was found unconscious in his mansion, located in one of the cottage villages on Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway. What exactly happened to him is unknown. It is only reported that it was not possible to save him, while the criminal nature of death is not traced. Strange, isn’t it? Usually, the mysterious death of billionaires causes considerable resonance, after which some details and “leaks” appear. But in this case, even the ever-curious tabloids and telegram channels seemed to take water in their mouths.
This would not have looked so noticeable if the events had not developed in exactly the same way in the seven previous cases, when other prominent top managers of the oil and gas sector passed away. And if two similar facts are also called an accident, three – a coincidence, and four – a pattern, then how to call eight deaths that followed one after another?
Specifically
Of course, it is possible that these are just coincidences. There are few things that don’t happen in life. However, it is already impossible not to notice a strange pattern. Those who knew a lot about the work of the oil and gas sector are dying. Due to its peculiarities, this business was already not completely transparent, which is quite justified when it comes to big money and serious contracts.
In addition, do not forget about the desire to warm your hands, working with billions in assets – our publication has written more than once about what is happening inside Gazprom and LUKOIL. Today, against the backdrop of sanctions, the old foundations of the oil and gas market are changing before our eyes. There is a redirection of supplies, prices jump. In such a situation, someone really can be superfluous. And hasn’t there been similar cases before? Our Version told about a series of strange deaths of Russian scientists: from 2005 to 2015 alone, more than 70 scientists involved in defense research died under mysterious circumstances.
At the same time, there was a mass death of Iranian scientists and engineers who worked in the field of nuclear technology – someone suddenly got gassed, another was blown up in a car. Do not forget about the wave of deaths of major Soviet officials who were responsible for the financial support of the party: in the summer of 1991, they fell out of the window with a difference of several days. It is not surprising that rumors immediately spread about the targeted assassination of party treasurers. But the fall from the window immediately raises questions. But, for example, poisoning with toad venom is a completely different level.
How fuel bosses died
Alexander Subbotin – died of poisoning
On May 8, 2022, the body of a man was found in the basement of a house in the village of Ulyankovo, Mytishchi urban district. The deceased turned out to be 43-year-old Alexander Subbotin, a former member of the board of LUKOIL Trading House LLC. According to the Investigative Committee, Alexander Subbotin died as a result of “acute heart failure.” Later, there were reports that he was healed by some “shamans” who performed rites to get out of hard drinking using the poison of frogs. According to various media reports, Subbotin was allegedly a fan of alternative medicine and regularly turned to amateur “shamans”. Later it was reported that the examination allegedly revealed alcohol, cocaine, as well as traces of paracetamol, drotaverine, pheniramine and phenobarbital in Subbotin’s blood. And he could go into a binge due to the fact that his wife left him.
The death of Alexander Subbotin did not affect the business. Until recently, he was the owner of the New Technology Company in the city of Vysotsk on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. NTC is engaged in the transshipment of petroleum products and is close to LUKOIL. Valery Subbotin, the brother of the deceased, became the new owner of the company – he previously served as vice president at LUKOIL.
Leonid Shulman – bled out
The head of the transport service of Gazprom Invest became the first top manager to die. His corpse was discovered on January 29 last year in the bathroom of a three-story house located in the elite cottage village of Leninskoye in the Leningrad Region (high-ranking functionaries of Gazprom live there). On the hands of 60-year-old Shulman there were deep cut wounds, everything around was covered in blood. As reported, Shulman voluntarily passed away because he could no longer experience unbearable pain, because he was healed and he does not want to be disabled – as it seemed to be written in the suicide note he left. Earlier, Shulman broke his leg and therefore walked with the Ilizarov apparatus. However, many noted that such a wealthy person would hardly be able to buy effective painkillers and pay for quality personal care. Later, various telegram channels began to disperse the version that the revision of the service, which was led by the deceased, could have been the reason for the suicide – allegedly, various frauds were uncovered there related to the overestimation of the cost of repairing the fleet. However, there is no confirmation of this.
Vladislav Avaev – found shot to death
On April 19, 2022, it became known about the bloody drama that took place in Moscow on Universitetsky Prospekt. There, in the apartment of an elite high-rise building, three bodies were found. The 51-year-old former vice-president of Gazprombank Vladislav Avaev, as well as his wife and 13-year-old disabled daughter, died. The corpses were discovered by a relative who came to visit the Avaevs after she could not get through to them. According to the official version, Vladislav Avaev himself killed his wife and daughter, and then committed suicide. The reason for the terrible crime was that Avaev allegedly found out that his wife was pregnant not from him, but from the family driver. However, there was no confirmation of this information, therefore it remains at the level of rumors. The driver himself fled to Moldova, and there is no data on whether they tried to find him at all. At the same time, the network edition “Moscow Online” cited the story of the Avaevs’ neighbor. She said that at half past one in the night she heard shots and a woman’s scream, after which she saw two men coming out of the entrance on the video intercom screen.
Ravil Maganov – fell from the balcony
The head of the board of directors and executive vice president of LUKOIL died on September 1, 2022. His body was found on the ground under the windows of the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital, where Maganov, 68, was undergoing treatment. The chamber of the oil top manager was on the sixth floor. Initially, TASS reported that we were talking about suicide – they say that Maganov had depression and he was taking antidepressants. However, later the media reported that his wife was in the next room and she would certainly have noticed her husband’s gloomy state of mind. Later, the telegram channel “Baza” reported that Maganov could accidentally fall out of the balcony, as a pack of cigarettes was found on the window. Although it should be noted here that at the Central Clinical Hospital Maganov treated the heart, which is unlikely to fit smoking. At the same time, there was no official statement on the causes of death.
Maganov has become so far the highest-ranking of the dead “tops”. He worked at LUKOIL from the moment the company was founded, knew everything about oil production and was one of the most influential people in the oil business. Also, shortly before his death, he became a co-owner of the Razvitie company, one of the world’s largest drilling companies. The brother of the deceased, Nail Maganov, is the head of the Tatneft company. In turn, Tsargrad reported that in addition to the Russian passport, Maganov also had an Austrian passport.
Alexander Tyulyakov – suffocated
Less than a month after the death of Leonid Shulman, in the same village of Leninskoye, the corpse of 61-year-old deputy for corporate security, General Director of the Unified Settlement Center of Gazprom, Alexander Tyulyakov, was found. The situation indicated that he committed suicide: a rope and a suicide note were found next to the body, the contents of which remained unknown.
The unified settlement center is actually the internal treasury of the gas corporation, where all data on gas supplies and payments for them are stored. As reported, shortly after the arrival of law enforcement officers, three jeeps drove up to Tyulakov’s house, after which employees of the “security service” cordoned off the territory and exposed the criminalists. And here’s another fact: in connection with the death of Tyulakov, one can find a mention that the day before his death he came home beaten. At the same time, everyone refers to Fontanka. However, this information is not available on the publication’s website. Wiped? But why?
Sergey Protosenya – beaten with an ax
Simultaneously with the death of Avaev, it became known about the death of 51-year-old Sergei Protoseni, a former top manager of the Novatek gas company. From 2002 to 2015, he served as the chief accountant of Novatek and briefly served on the board. According to the Spanish police, Sergey Protosenya, together with his wife and underage daughter, came to spend the Easter holidays in his mansion, located in the city of Lloret de Mar. A few days later, the family stopped communicating, in connection with which the son of Protosenya, who remained in France, called the police. The law enforcement officers who arrived at the call found three bloody corpses – the bodies of Sergei Protosenya’s wife and daughter were in the house, and he himself was in the garden. The murder weapons were also found – a knife and an axe. As a result, a version was voiced that Protosenya killed his loved ones, and then committed suicide. The mother of the deceased top manager said she did not believe in it. According to her, Sergei Protosenya loved his family very much and was a calm, balanced person. She believes that the cause of the massacre was “a showdown regarding money.”
Mikhail Krutikhin, oil and gas industry analyst
– When we see that there is something wrong with top managers, you can believe in one coincidence, but not two. It is impossible to prove anything now until the direct executors speak. There is a suspicion that they are getting rid of people who can let it slip or whose conscience can wake up.
Yuri Voronov – found in the pool
On the afternoon of July 4, 2022, relatives discovered the body of 61-year-old founder and CEO of the transport and logistics company Astra Shipping Yuri Voronov. The corpse was in the pool, located in the cottage belonging to the deceased. At the bottom of the pool lay several spent cartridges, next to it was a Grand Power pistol.
The death was ruled a suicide. According to media reports, the widow of the deceased businessman told investigators that Voronov had been abusing alcohol for two weeks and complained about problems in business. Indeed, according to open data, in 2020 Astra Shipping showed a loss of 95 million, and in 2021 – 65 million rubles. Also, problems arose in the work of two other businesses of Voronov – the travel companies “Astra Marine” and “Neva Line of Recreation”. Astra Shipping specialized in the execution of Gazprom contracts. According to information from its website, the company was engaged in sea transportation of goods, as well as oil transshipment.