Billionaire Alexander Abramov's record under review after claims of links to tax haven companies

Friday, 6 December 2019

Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov owns this peninsula which marks the northern part of Helena Bay, 45km southeast of Russell.

Allegations about companies linked with a Russian oligarch who owns a $50m property in Northland are under review by the Overseas Investment Office.

Alexander Abramov, who made his billions in buying Russian and Ukrainian steel plants and mines and is one of the richest men in the world, bought a farm at Helena Bay in Northland farm with Overseas Investment Office approval in 2009.

Alexander Abramov is one of Russia's richest men.

He ploughed millions into the 215ha seaside property and transformed it into a country estate with a gated luxury resort complete with a 25m swimming pool. One of the conditions of his purchase was that he was of good character.

However a massive stash of documents from the defunct Ukio Bank in Lithuania, that were obtained by the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in 2017, raise questions about his business dealings between 2006 and 2013.

A Stuff video from 2017 shows locals were undecided whether or not billionaire and Helena Bay Lodge owner, Alexander Abramov, would bring economic benefit to the region.

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Residents of Helena Bay in Northland look out on to Abramov's property.

An OCCRP report, based on 1.3 million bank transactions from 238,000 companies in the documents, reveals what it claims are a web of complex deals moving Russian money to and from shell companies, some of which appear linked to Abramov.

The report is quick to say the documents do not contain any specific evidence that a firm or its employees broke any law or committed any crimes.

Visitors to the Helena Bay Lodge property owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov are left in no doubt security is tight.

However it says two companies linked with Abramov appear 'deeply entwined with the Troika Laundromat, a network of shell companies that operated from 2006 to 2013, moving at least $US4.6 billion, enabling its users to hide assets, evade taxes or launder money'.

After the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) was made aware of the above material by Stuff, group manager Vanessa Horne said the information was under consideration.

One party or firm said to have created many companies in the network is Cypriot law firm Nicos Chr. Anastasiades and Partners LLC.

The firm has powerful political connections; the current president of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades is a former partner and his family is still linked to the firm.

Abramov is or was one the firm's more substantial clients and became a Cypriot citizen in 2010, giving him access to the EU.

The documents show that two companies involved in the money-go-round network - Baltherm Ventures Ltd and Matias Co Ltd - are linked to Abramov. They injected about $US323m into the network between 2006 and 2013.

Abramov's connection with Baltherm and Matias is shown by the purchase of a Russian electrical network company called Energostroyinvest-Holding Ltd in 2007. The owner confirmed Abramov's identity in an interview in 2013.

The purchase agreement relating to the above transaction shows the buyers were Baltherm and Matias. The guarantor of the purchasers' obligations was a Cypriot company called Crosland Global Ltd of which, records show, Abramov was a major shareholder in.

Abramov spokesman Chris Seel, who worked with Abramov in Moscow and now looks after his New Zealand interests, said materials referred to by OCCRP did not allege 'that Mr Abramov, or companies affiliated with him, were involved in any, illegal, unethical or criminal activity, or that any of the fund transfers made by such companies were proceeds of crime'.

'The materials do not allege that Mr Abramov, or companies affiliated with him, had knowledge of any illegal activity carried out by companies that allegedly received funds from companies affiliated with Mr Abramov.

'Further, while the materials cite a number of transactions among companies unaffiliated with Mr Abramov and suggest that those transactions were improper, the materials do not link those transactions to Mr Abramov, or companies affiliated with him.'

'To be clear, while Nicos Chr. Anastasiades and Partners did assist Mr Abramov with his Cypriot citizenship application in 2010, via a form of investor category (not dissimilar to that being offered by the NZ Government), the materials do not contain any specific allegations or additional information regarding this event. Mr Nicos Anastasiades was not the President of Cyprus at that time nor was his party in power – he was elected in 2013.

'Mr Abramov is fully aware of his obligations under the OIO, and is very confident that he has met them. Mr Abramov is a firmly dedicated corporate citizen of New Zealand, and has always gone above and beyond to comply with all legal requirements.

'As with most business-people, Mr Abramov does not publicly comment on the economics of commercial transactions that he has been involved with.'

OCCRP says the Troika Laundromat was more than a system to channel billions of dollars out of Russia.

It also allowed Russian oligarchs and politicians to secretly acquire shares in state-owned companies, to buy real estate both in Russia and abroad, to purchase luxury yachts, to hire music superstars for private parties, to pay medical bill and much more.

In 2012, Abramov stormed to the top of the Rich List with an estimated wealth of $7 billion, and has remained near the top ever since.