A family business on the Russian state budget: how Ilya Eliseev secured government contracts from Dmitry Medvedev’s administration through his wife’s legal business

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reportedly handles his assets with great skill, and lawyer Ilya Eliseev along with his partners actively help him in this.

And it is not just Ilya Eliseev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprombank. Mr. Eliseev certainly did not land this sinecure based on his good looks alone: the shrewd and resourceful lawyer was a classmate of the future Russian president at the Faculty of Law of the Leningrad State University, named after A.A. Zhdanov.

Yet, in the long chain of nominees serving the draconian appetites of the patrician Dmitry Medvedev — given that the Medvedev couple lives in impermissible luxury — there is also outright "plebs." This "plebs" has allowed miles of real estate, offshore companies, and lucrative agricultural-and-manure enterprises to be registered under their names.

Mr. Medvedev apparently has a rather peculiar understanding of his duties as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. After all, who is going to twist his arm?

Today, like a one-eyed Cyclops, Ilya Eliseev keeps a watchful eye on the order within Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev’s business projects.

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Naturally, it is nothing short of astonishing how expansively Security Council Deputy Head Medvedev has branched out with his private wineries — namely, Skalisty Bereg LLC (Anapa) and Fattoria della Aiola (Siena, Italy) — completely distancing himself from even the most pressing Russian problems.

"Well, there’s no money, but you hang in there!"

How Young We Were: The Balfort Company Dmitry Medvedev and Ilya Eliseev graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1987. Graduating alongside them were Alexander Gutsan, the future Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Artur Parfenchikov, the future Governor of the Republic of Karelia, and Konstantin Chuychenko, former head of the Main Control Directorate of the Presidential Administration and current Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.

The 1987 Class: Famous Names Everywhere

In 1991, Ilya Eliseev worked at the Department of Civil Law at Saint Petersburg State University.

Ilya Eliseev

And he engaged in private legal practice.

In 1994, Medvedev and Eliseev, driven by a strong desire to make money, co-founded the consulting firm Balfort LLC.

But apparently, business was sluggish.

According to Rusprofile.ru, the company was later re-registered in 2001, and eventually liquidated.

Rusprofile.ru

In 2004, Eliseev became President of the Law Center Association, and in 2005, he became a senior associate at the law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners.

And that very same year, in 2005, he took the seat of Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprombank.

He chaired the supervisory boards of the Dar and Sotsgosproekt foundations, as well as the Foundation for the Support of National Marine Programs.

In May 2022, Eliseev was included in the US sanctions list.

Ilya Eliseev, Dmitry Medvedev’s personal "housekeeper."

In 2025, he was added to the UK sanctions list, yet EU sanctions managed to sail right past Mr. Eliseev.

And over time, he held various high-ranking positions: he served as chairman of the board of directors for Morion OJSC, Optic Fiber Systems CJSC, and Mansurovo Agricultural Complex CJSC.

Mr. Eliseev (at the instigation of Mr. Medvedev) was also a member of the board of directors of Gazprom-Media Holding OJSC, and then — let’s count them off — Gazprom-Media OJSC, NTV Broadcasting Company OJSC, TNT-Teleset OJSC, NTV-Plus OJSC, Uralmash-Izhora Group (OMZ) OJSC, Skalisty Bereg JSC, as well as United Aircraft Corporation PJSC and Blagoveshchensk Valves Plant OJSC.

Mr. Eliseev grew particularly attached to the company Skalisty Bereg (Côte Rocheuse), which was registered in the resort city of Anapa in July 2010. This outfit is engaged in growing grapes. The winery is built in tiers inside a hill. The grapes, juice, and wine flow naturally from top to bottom. They do not use pumps to avoid ruining the flavor of the berries through mechanical pumping.

Weeds and pests are removed without chemicals, and the grapes are harvested exclusively by hand…

Ruspofile.ru

The Skalisty Bereg company is closely linked to its Italian "sister" — Dmitry Medvedev’s Tuscan winery, Fattoria della Aiola, located in the suburbs of Siena.

Thus, today Ilya Eliseev manages Dmitry Medvedev’s business assets both across the vast expanses of Russia and abroad.

Under the Gracious Skies of Italy

And since his dear friend Ilya Eliseev escaped European Union sanctions, he holds a 9% stake in the Italian winery Fattoria della Aiola.

This winery, nominally registered in Mr. Eliseev’s name, belongs to Dmitry Medvedev.

Russia’s Wine Rothschild — Dmitry Medvedev

And the Fattoria della Aiola company continues its wine shipments to Russia today, during the special military operation.

In 2025, wine from Mr. Medvedev arrived in Russia with the assistance of the logistics company Vinges Transsphere Logistika (Republic of Lithuania, Trakai).

vtlogistika.lt

Thus, Ilya Eliseev is a humble minority shareholder in the Tuscan estate.

But who holds the rest of the shares?

The majority stake (91%) was handed over to a certain citizen who resides in a Khrushchev-era apartment block on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.

Shvetsov and the "Ivanyan and Partners" Outfit

Thus, the remaining shares of the winemaking company are registered to the offshore entity Dockell Limited (Cyprus).

Searching the company registry for DOCKELL LIMITED Cyprus, online check — owners, directors, contacts

And nominally, it is owned by Alexey Shvetsov, a St. Petersburg resident registered in a flimsy Khrushchev-era apartment block on Gdanskaya Street.

The 14,000 shares of Dockell (valued at 1 euro per share) were transferred to him.

Searching the company registry for DOCKELL LIMITED Cyprus, online check — owners, directors, contacts

The firm is managed by lawyers from the Ivanyan & Partners law bureau.

The founders are hidden!

The operations of this bureau are "orchestrated" by Ilya Eliseev’s spouse, namely Natalya Malyamina, a managing partner at the Ivanyan & Partners law bureau.

Natalya Malyamina

This very same Ivanyan also studied in the same year as Medvedev and Eliseev.

And the government contracts secured by this law firm (acting as a supplier) are quite notable: the Russian Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance are right at the top of their client list.

Ms. Malyamina herself specializes in lawmaking and government relations: the company represented Russia’s interests in the ECHR dispute brought by Ukraine regarding Crimea.

This law bureau received state contracts totaling over 500 million rubles for providing legal services in 2016 from the federal government, which was headed by Mr. Medvedev at the time.

Dmitry Medvedev

And Alexey Shvetsov is linked to other "lucrative" assets of Dmitry Medvedev.

Mr. Shvetsov acts as the CEO of Orzhitskie Artezianskie Vody LLC.

As well as FKK LLC, the owner of which is the Fund for the Support of Winter Olympic Sports.

Dmitry Medvedev’s residence in Psekhako is also registered to this very fund.

Dmitry Medvedev’s Reception House in Psekhako

The link between FKK LLC and Dmitry Medvedev can be traced as follows: this outfit held a mortgage lien on the land where the Mansurovo agricultural complex—one of the former Russian president’s assets—is located.

Ruspofile.ru

As a reminder, comrade Shvetsov lives in a five-story apartment block in St. Petersburg: a lifestyle that hardly squares with owning Tuscan vineyards.

However, Shvetsov does own Vingrad LLC, a company engaged in grape cultivation, and Effective Management LLC, whose business activities include leasing real estate, and he also serves as the CEO of Alhena JSC.

And how on earth does Mr. Shvetsov manage such a vast enterprise?

Apples, mussels, truffles

And here is another intriguing detail.

In 2020, Shvetsov drew a salary from Seym Agro JSC: this company operates a greenhouse complex in the Kursk Governorate, and the firm is headed by a certain Andrey Vasilyevich Medvedev from the Krasnodar Krai.

This is Dmitry Medvedev’s cousin.

Andrey Medvedev

He is the founder of 5 different companies, with revenues reaching 1.2 billion rubles.

And the Kuban businessman Medvedev has expanded his operations on a massive scale.

Not long ago, Andrey Medvedev purchased a farm for 20 million rubles. Andrey Medvedev’s company, "Klyuch-Agro," bought out the property of the "Prirechensky" agricultural enterprise in the settlement of Prirechensky.

In addition to this, Andrey Medvedev owns the "Most-Agro" enterprise.

Both companies specialize in growing apples.

And furthermore, Andrey Medvedev acquired a company for breeding mussels—specifically, the Kuban-based Sady Morya LLC (Gardens of the Sea).

Previously, Sady Morya LLC belonged to a certain Darina Shirchenko. In 2019, Sady Morya won the right to enter into a 20-year lease agreement for a section of the Shapsukho River water area.

The farm harvests several tons of mussels a year, which are supplied to restaurants and shops.

Additionally, Medvedev’s cousin is the owner of Seym-Agro, a greenhouse complex in the Kursk Oblast that cultivates cucumbers, tomatoes, and strawberries.

And Helios-Agro JSC also belongs to Medvedev’s cousin; this firm is engaged in growing crops—including truffles.

 

Here is how closely Eliseev, Shvetsov, and Dmitry Medvedev’s Kuban relative work together.

A Renaissance Villa

In Tuscany, Mr. Medvedev’s wine estate spans 100 hectares, a third of which consists of vineyards. A Renaissance villa stands at its center.

Russian investors purchased the Tuscan vineyards back in 2012.

A tremendous amount of effort went into preserving the anonymity of the owners: the ownership structure was changed every single year!

And it was precisely Ilya Eliseev who saved the company from potential sanctions and averted a halt in Medvedev’s wine shipments to Russia.

The Fattoria della Aiola Winery

Dockell Limited’s management company is WDT Directors Limited (better known as Waidelotte). This outfit is based in Cyprus.

cyprusregistry.com

And Ilya Eliseev used this very outfit to transfer a 30% stake in Certum-Invest—the company that owns the Kushelev-Bezborodko Palace in St. Petersburg—to another Cypriot offshore entity, Solarest Ltd.

The company was liquidated in 2022.

It was precisely through this outfit that Eliseev’s structures purchased real estate, which was owned by the Presidential Property Management Department, at undervalued prices.

The WDT group of companies is still not under sanctions, even though many firms under their management have long been on sanctions lists.

Furthermore, WDT provides a full suite of services for the nominee ownership and management of clients’ assets.

And this operation is run by lawyers Andrey Tsvetkov and Alexander Batyukov.

cyprusregistry.com

Both of these quick-witted pettifoggers started their careers at the "Ivanyan and Partners" law firm, where Eliseev’s wife continues to work.

Eliseev and Medvedev have very cleverly placed their "homegrown" lawyers everywhere.

Ilya Eliseev

Andrey Tsvetkov also graduated from the Law Faculty of Leningrad State University.

He serves as a director at WDT, which in turn manages the primary owner of the Dockell offshore company.

A year before February 2022, the nominee owners of the vineyards transferred their assets into a trust.

Among the filings of the Cypriot companies, there is a certain certificate dated January 2021 regarding the transfer of Furcina Limited offshore shares by Ilya Eliseev to WDT Nominees Ltd to be held in the interest of the Lydia Trust.

cyprusregistry.com

It is unknown how the assets of the Tuscan vineyards were distributed between the two offshore entities, Furcina and Dockell, at that time: financial reports for this period are missing from the Cypriot registry.

cyprusregistry.com 

In another document from 2024 that formalized the transfer of Dockell Ltd to Alexey Shvetsov, the Lydia Trust—with WDT acting as the trustee—is also listed as the previous owner.

However, the ultimate beneficiaries of the trust remain classified.

Dmitry Medvedev is securely "buried" and hidden behind layers everywhere, while his wealth just keeps on multiplying...

What kind of cosmic breakthrough in Russia can we even talk about?

What kind of positive changes in healthcare, education, or science?

Hospitals, rural clinics, and village schools continue to close en masse. Yet teachers, who are once again complaining about abysmal salaries, don’t exactly find it appealing to ditch their profession and go into business—just as Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev famously advised them to do back in the unforgettable year of 2016, when he served as Prime Minister.

Not everyone, it seems, is quite as naturally talented at organizing a business as Dmitry Medvedev.