Studying the figure of Vladimir Yaroslavovich Krupchak, you come across continuous contradictions. You can even say that this person is a peculiar phenomenon. What is worth at least the fact that he quite officially owns pulp and paper mills in the Arkhangelsk region, having a passport of a citizen of Ukraine in his pocket. Which is very busy, because Krupchak in the recent past was a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the United Russia party.

But this is not all. In addition, he owns the Obukhov Pulp and Paper Mill near Kiev, which makes it possible to accuse Krupchak of financing “punitive battalions” (it is clear from the rhetoric that this sounds in Russia) and at the same time talk about sponsoring “gang formations of pro-Russian separatists” in the Donbass. This, of course, sounds in Ukraine.

Actually this is nonsense. Both on the one hand and on the other. It is clear that it sounds beautiful and corresponds to the market situation, even if each side has its own. But in fact, Vladimir Krupchak is only interested in one thing – money. And neither the “punishers” nor the militants will bring him such things at all, giving rise only to additional problems. Because one thing is empty statements in the press, and another is the real financing of the war in the Donbass, at least from that side, at least from that side.

Yes, and you should not suck out of your finger what was not there in order to drown Krupchak – he had accumulated enough sins without this. By the way, we will immediately make a clarification regarding Ukrainian citizenship – Krupchak no longer has it. In 2019, Vladimir Krupchak received a Cypriot passport and renounced Ukrainian citizenship. The decree on the deprivation of citizenship was signed by the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. However, this did not stop Krupchak from being a phenomenon.

Judge for yourself. A former dentist from the Russian provinces (Vladimir Yaroslavovich was born on January 29, 1958 in the village of Bykovo, Vilegodsky district, Arkhangelsk region), in the early nineties he was able to change his profession and crush himself not only in Russia’s largest Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, but later on a number of other enterprises in the industry . Including in Ukraine, where he controls the Kiev Cardboard and Paper Mill.

But that’s not all – in 2004, Krupchak became a State Duma deputy from Putin’s United Russia party. And in 2007, he already has a Ukrainian passport, which became the result of a conflict with Oleg Deripaska, from which Krupchak had to urgently flee to a neighboring country. At the same time, Yushchenko, who is by no means pro-Russian, signs a Decree on granting Krupchak citizenship under an accelerated procedure.

In 2012, the next somersault: Krupchak is included in the electoral list by the ruling “Party of Regions” Viktor Yanukovych, who, in turn, did not at all burn with love for his predecessor Yushchenko, who issued Krupchak a passport with a trident on the cover.

By the way, this candidacy for deputies of the Ukrainian parliament made it possible for Russian ill-wishers to call Krupchak also a “People’s Deputy of Ukraine”, which is not true – he was excluded from the lists of the Party of Regions even before the elections. But not because they were taking revenge for ties with Yushchenko, but because Krupchak did not comply with the norms of the electoral law – he did not live in the country for the required five years. This, moreover, did not interfere with business at all, and during the time of, so to speak, “terry” Yanukovych, in 2013, Krupchak was in the top 100 richest Ukrainians – his fortune was estimated at $ 273 million.

The next change of power in Ukraine also did not bring any special problems to Krupchak – during this period he bought out the last shares of the Kiev Cardboard and Paper Mill and since 2018 has been its ultimate beneficiary through Pulp Mill Holding.

In November 2019 (this is already under Zelensky), Pulp Mill Print, registered in the satellite of Kiev – the city of Brovary, and owned by Krupchak, bought out all the property of the large metropolitan printing company Blitz-Print, which had previously been declared bankrupt. Interestingly, Blitz-Print equipment was initially valued at UAH 4.12 billion, but was sold for only UAH 49.59 million.

2017

True, in 2017, Vladimir Yaroslavovich got on the front pages of the media, but by no means as a “sponsor of militants or punishers” (choose to taste). They tried to kidnap him in the center of Kiev and take him to Russia. Allegedly, Deripaska was behind this. The piquancy of the situation was added by the fact that the abductors were led by the newly appointed head of the Obukhov regional department of the National Police of Ukraine, the city in which Krupchak’s main asset in this country is located.

The kidnappers allegedly expected to receive as much as $ 17 million for their work. Which does not at all fit in with the version of ordering the kidnapping of Deripaska – is he not crazy to pay that kind of money? And the abduction itself was carried out so clumsily and stupidly that it caused bewilderment and smacked of an outright circus.

2019

In 2019, Krupchak, as already mentioned, changed his citizenship. But at the same time, this (as well as accusations of funding “bloody Nazi punishers crucifying boys in the Donbass”) did not prevent him from managing his money much more pragmatically.

He actively invested in the governor of the Arkhangelsk region, Yuri Orlov, and when he was replaced by Alexander Tsybulsky, he switched to the latter. At the same time, while the result of the gubernatorial election was still unclear, Krupchak also financed Tsybulsky’s main opponent, the leader of the social movement We Live Here! Yuri Shevelev. What kind of “punishers” and “separatists” are there! Who needs them, if the main Russian assets of Krupchak – the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, the Titan Group and the Lesozavod 25 CJSC are located and actively work in the Arkhangelsk region. It is better to invest money in her power, and Vladimir Yaroslavovich always knew how to manage money and did not throw it to the wind.

In addition, Krupchak began to develop the Ulyanovsk region, where he began the construction of a plant for the production of corrugated packaging. The planned investment is about 34 million dollars. What kind of “punishers” are there!

Yes, and Krupchak has no criminal cases for any political reasons – neither in Russia, nor in Ukraine. Criminality is present, it is. It is quite possible that his name will come up in the investigation of the actions of Grigory Slabikov, head of the Rostekhnadzor department for the North-Western Federal District, who was detained by the FSB in St. Petersburg on suspicion of corruption worth billions of rubles.

For the past nine years, Mr. Slabikov has had a direct influence on the outcome of the conciliation and verification procedures of Rostekhnadzor in the Arkhangelsk region and is well acquainted with Krupchak’s business interests.

In addition, the competent authorities are also interested in the head of the Federal Tax Service for the Arkhangelsk region, Sergei Rodionov, who has been collecting taxes from Krupchak’s enterprises for almost six years in a row.

The problems of Vladimir Yaroslavovich in Russia are not limited to this – there are several criminal cases in which his name and business structures controlled by him appear. He is charged, in particular, with appropriation of state property, embezzlement of budgetary funds, tax fraud, deliberate bankruptcies of enterprises, fraud, and crimes against a person. For example, the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Arkhangelsk suspected Krupchak of involvement in a group that attacked Deputy Governor Bulatov and investigator Strigalev and killed the head of the Ruta small enterprise Burdanov. It’s a thing of the past, but the end of the investigations has not been set.

Yes, and the former father-in-law of Krupchak – Grigory Perfilov – was also a defendant in the criminal case. Now he is considered missing. In the spring of 2008, he allegedly left a suicide note and jumped off a bridge into a river in Arkhangelsk.

Here, however, it is unlikely that you will reveal anything, but the fact is very interesting. Especially when you consider that in relation to the former chairman of the Committee for State Property Management of the Arkhangelsk Region Perfilov G.V., his deputy Nekrasov A.V. and General Director of LHK “Northern Cellulose” Krupchak V.Ya. On March 21, 2000, criminal case No. 00380016/No. 208 was initiated under Part 3 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (appropriation or embezzlement of another’s property). The criminal case was initiated in connection with the issuance by Perfilov of an illegal order dated September 27, 1994 No. 228-r, which provided for the contribution of 20% of the shares of APPM to the authorized capital of LHK Severnaya cellulose. I jumped off the Perfilov bridge in time, you can’t say anything.

It was not for nothing that we mentioned this twenty-year-old case – it was at its height that Krupchak became a deputy of the State Duma. So what kind of “punishers” are there! That’s where you need to invest money – in communications. Which make it possible to solve problems and receive government orders, and not something that is guaranteed to bring losses and problems.

True, it is worth noting the fact that Vladimir Yaroslavovich, just in case, does not appear in his homeland. However, this does not prevent him from managing his assets and expanding them. He is not limited to Ulyanovsk – recently Krupchak has been visiting Kazakhstan often, since the new Cypriot passport allows him to travel the world without any problems and, most importantly, to impersonate an international investor. And the Austro-German Pulp Mill Holding GmbH, where Krupchak is listed as the “investment director”, helps a lot with this.

What exactly Vladimir Yaroslavovich aimed at in Kazakhstan is not exactly known. A version was put forward that here, they say, he decided to sit out the “fight of Zelensky with the oligarchs” in Ukraine. But those who are familiar with the situation in Ukraine will not take this version seriously – what kind of struggle is there with the oligarchs! Zelensky would have to sit out safely until the end of his term, what kind of “struggle” is there. And why would he fight with a man who is by no means an oligarch and who, moreover, knows how to grease where necessary? Krupchak survived Kuchma, Yushchenko, Yanukovych and Poroshenko, who are no match for the current president of Ukraine. And in general – a person has a Cypriot passport, why should he run away to Kazakhstan? No, it was a clear business interest that brought him here. What – time will tell.

P.S. Vladimir Yaroslavovich Krupchak has the following awards:

Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, II degree (May 21, 1999, Russia) – for successful preparation and active participation in the XXI Bandy World Championship in the city of Arkhangelsk.

Order of Merit, III degree (October 29, 2003, Ukraine) – for a significant personal contribution to the preservation of the national and cultural traditions of Ukrainians in Russia.

He is also a laureate of the Peter the Great National Prize in the nomination “Leader of Russian business in the timber industry-2002”. He also has the Order “For Benevolence” from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill. The list, frankly, delivers.