London as a haven for Russian oligarchs: why Boris Usherovich isn’t afraid of sanctions and continues laundering money for Russia

Russian millionaires in Europe are a common sight. Unfortunately, even sanctions and partial asset freezes after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have not significantly changed the situation.

This is reported by PressWay.

It’s a different case when it comes to very wealthy Russians who have taken refuge in Europe to avoid responsibility for embezzlement of state contracts, but since the onset of the great war, have actively returned to business in the aggressor country. One such cunning businessman is Boris Usherovich, head of the "1520" company group, who on one hand is wanted and hiding in London, while on the other hand, is rapidly mastering new orders from the "Russian Railways."

Usherovich is wanted by Russian law enforcement agencies in a case involving the laundering of 200 billion rubles on contracts for the "RZD." In 2018, Colonel Dmitriy Zakharchenko of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation was detained. He was accused of receiving bribes from the leaders of the "1520" company group to "turn a blind eye" to embezzling funds from Russian railway orders. The investigation suspected that Zakharchenko was a sort of security service for "1520." At the time, the leaders of this group were Valeriy Markelov, Alexey Krapivin, and Boris Usherovich.

Markelov was detained and testified against other members of the criminal organization. In 2023, he died from cancer. Krapivin, surprisingly, was promoted after the scandal — at the end of December 2022, he led the company of Russian oligarch Arkadiy Rotenberg, close to Putin, "Bridges and Roads." However, Usherovich had an even more interesting story — he managed to flee and take a huge amount of money with him.

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In 2019, Russian journalists found out that Usherovich fled Russia first to Cyprus, then to Israel, and later to the United Kingdom. Now there are indisputable proofs of this. The Usherovich family began moving money from Russia to offshore and European accounts in advance. Boris Usherovich opened his first company in Cyprus back in 2011. Later in 2014, he and his wife opened three more Cypriot companies, and in 2019, their son Kirill added another company. As of now, the Usherovich family owns six companies in this offshore jurisdiction.

Elena Usherovich also owns another company in Luxembourg — Synergie Capital Sarl. The company was registered back in 2012, and the registers indicate that Usherovich’s wife holds Cypriot citizenship.

The family also has two daughters — Mariya and Sofiya. Girls with the same names and surnames in 2016 studied at the Cypriot private school IMS Private School in Limassol. Open data about exams shows that many children with Russian surnames study there.

IMS Private School is a new type of small school that allows students to enroll in top universities worldwide upon completion. Education here can serve as additional evidence that the Usherovich family settled in Cyprus and obviously obtained local passports.

Another business partner of Usherovich in the case of siphoning billions from Russian railway contracts and bribing the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs colonel was Dmitriy Motorin. They worked together in "Incred Bank." As it can be guessed, Motorin also fled to Europe and was the first among the fleeing friends to pave the way for obtaining asylum in the United Kingdom. The Russian press wrote that Motorin was interviewed by the British immigration service in the fall of 2018.

Already a year later—in October 2019, Boris Usherovich’s business partner opened BVM Property Services Limited in the United Kingdom. From the name, it is clear the company deals with real estate.

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According to the British register, Dmitriy Motorin is a Cypriot citizen, like the entire family of his partner Boris Usherovich.

Usherovich applied for asylum in the United Kingdom in 2019. Moreover, as sources reported, his motive for this action was stated as "pressure from Russian law enforcement agencies and being forced into bribery in Russia."

The Russian press also wrote that Usherovich and Motorin together opened an investment fund in London with a capital of $2 billion, through which funds were invested in British real estate. It was not possible to find confirmation of the existence of this fund. But the stated capital amount is impressive. Moreover, it is likely that the son of Russian oligarch Rotenberg, Igor, may have participated in the fund.

In addition to Usherovich and Motorin, another well-known Russian lawyer "fixer" Dmitriy Smychkovskiy settled in London. In 2019, the London court refused to extradite him at the request of Russian law enforcement, which gave Usherovich hope that Britain would be quite safe for him.

For some time, Usherovich kept a low profile, but with the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, companies from the "1520" group abruptly began to receive new government orders. Usherovich’s return to "Mother Russia," who just a few years ago complained to the British about oppression, is quite simple to explain — he became a partner of the oligarch Rotenberg, who is close to Putin. It was already mentioned above that one of the leaders of "1520" Alexey Krapivin led a company that is part of Rotenberg’s orbit.

According to "Rusprofile," the financial indicators of the companies LLC "UK BSM," LLC FSС "Mostotryad-47," and LLC "OSK 1520," which are part of the "1520" group significantly increased from 2022.

It is noteworthy that "OSK 1520" concluded 16 contracts with "RZD Stroy" from February 2022 to date, for a total amount of $341 million. It is worth recalling that in 2019, "1520" was criticized from all sides for embezzling billions from "RZD," and now Usherovich’s group is once again collaborating with the railways for millions of dollars.

Furthermore, in July 2024, the state enterprise "Nabrybresurs" signed a contract worth 6.45 billion rubles with the company "Mostostroy-11" for construction and installation work at the Korsakov port (Russian "Korsakov Logistic Technopark"). The contract provides for a 50% prepayment, i.e., 3.2 billion rubles.

Russian registers state that "Mostostroy-11" is a company from Surgut without disclosure of its founders’ data. However, the "Mostostroy-11" website states that this company agreed to become part of Boris Usherovich’s "1520" in early 2023.

Thus, the Russian state enterprise agreed to give Boris Usherovich, a wanted resident of London, a 3.2 billion ruble advance for future work in a Russian port, completely forgetting his embezzlement just a few years ago.

The media reported that in 2019, Usherovich bought a house and apartments in London in the very prestigious Mayfair area. Some of the most expensive flats in the British capital are sold here. Famous Hyde Park is nearby.

For instance, local real estate websites offer two-bedroom apartments for 8 million pounds, which is an astronomical price.

Interestingly, another wealthy person, the Russian-Ukrainian oligarch Pavel Fuks, also lives in this area. Journalists reported about his move to London following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Media found his house and estimated its approximate value.

London has long attracted the world’s wealthy. On one hand, it is highly prestigious, on the other — once settled there, you have full guarantees of safety. After all, the capital of Great Britain is in the TOP 10 safest cities in the world. Another question is why British authorities do not attach importance to the fact that a Russian businessman settled with them, Boris Usherovich, is wanted and at the same time actively sponsors Russia’s war against Ukraine, financing projects of the state enterprise "Russian Railways."