Centrotrust received part of Roman Abramovich’s Russian assets

JSC “Central Trust Company” (“Centrotrust”) received 100% of LLC “Millhouse”, LLC “Ank Development”, LLC “St Balchug”, LLC “Beletazh”, LLC “Western Estate”, LLC “Firm “Latis”, LLC Sital-Mag LLC. The transactions were registered on August 15, 2024, according to data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, reviewed by RB.RU.

All real estate companies are united by the fact that they were previously owned by the Cypriot offshore company Protonius Investments Ltd. In 2017-2018, Kommersant reported, citing the Cyprus registry, that the offshore company represents the interests of Roman Abramovich and that the billionaire is its ultimate beneficiary. In turn, Interfax called Millhouse LLC a Russian legal entity of Roman Abramovich’s Millhouse management company.

After the start of the sanctioning pressure, information about the owners of several companies owned by Protonius Investments Ltd was hidden from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, but archival data was preserved.

In the spring of 2022, Roman Abramovich was included in the sanctions lists of the European Union and Great Britain; he tried to challenge this in court, but has not yet succeeded. No US sanctions were imposed against the billionaire.

Forbes included Millhouse in the rating “Kings of Russian Real Estate – 2024” at the 22nd place. The largest objects managed by the company are the business centers “Krylatskie Hills”, “White Gardens” and “Balchug Plaza”, the Skolkovo golf club, as well as the residential complex and business center “Skolkovo Park for Business”.

In October 2023, it became known that Sergei Gordeev had reduced his stake in PIK Group from 52.49% to 32.49%. Then, 20% of the shares were received by the closed-end mutual fund “Fund for Institutional Investments in Residential Real Estate No. 1” under the management of Central Trust Company JSC.

The sole shareholder of the trust company is Kirill Kubushka, its general director.

As Maria Spiridonova, a member of the Russian Bar Association, explained to RB.RU, trust property, or common-law trust, is a system of relations in which property originally owned by the founder of the trust (the settlor) is transferred to the disposal of the trustee (trustee or trustee), but the beneficiaries of income (beneficiaries) receive from him.

“The essence of trusts is that the founder, who has given shares, money or property for the management of such a structure, ceases to be its owner. He and his relatives can become beneficiaries – those who receive income from the assets belonging to him. It is by transferring ownership from the founder to the trust manager (usually a special foreign company) that it is possible to protect assets from various claims,” Spiridonova said.