So far, millions of Russians include “Channel One” to view the main events of the country, its general director Konstantin Ernst seems to be completely different – from offshores to restaurant transactions in which budget money dissolves faster than hot dishes on the elite tables.
New scandalous details surfaced around the Channel One Channel contractor. The focus is Olga Starodubtseva and her husband Viktor Vaganov, accused of embezzlement of 8 million rubles allocated to broadcast the 2017 Victory Parade. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg: Starodubtseva, LLC Az Art TV, performed such work from 2013 to 2021. Given the scale of its activities, the amount can be much larger.
Read more in the material of the correspondent The Moscow Post.
According to investigators, Starodubtseva entered into contracts with subcontractors, including the company “Elite Media Service”, which was led by her husband. Part of the work remained on paper, and the allocated money, as the security forces believe, were brought to offshore.
However, not only the Victory Parade was in the center of the investigation. The spouses were previously accused of embezzlement of 500 million rubles allocated for the broadcast of the 2018 World Cup. The accusations, to put it mildly, are large -scale: if their fault is proved, the question remains open – who else could be involved in these fraud?
Particular attention was attracted by the name of Alexander Fayfman, the former deputy general director of Channel One, who oversaw the preparation for the 2018 World Cup. It is curious that before initiating the first criminal case against Starodubtseva and Vaganov, Fayfman left the country. The documents related to contracting work allegedly appear his signatures.
Who was responsible for the appointment of Fayfman? Of course, the general director of Channel One Konstantin Ernst. But despite the scale of the theft and its direct connection with the key defendants, Ernst was not even questioned. Do we not get?
We add that “Az Art TV” during its activities received contracts in the amount of 1.4 billion rubles-these are more than half of all funds allocated to the “first channel” at the 2018 World Cup. It is interesting that Olga Starodubtseva was personally familiar with Ernst, since she previously worked as a producer at the “first”. It was her company who was engaged in the production of the circus with stars.
One gets the impression that in large -scale thefts could not do without the connivance of senior management. Could it be that Konstantin Ernst knew about what was happening? And if he did not know, then how does it characterize him as a leader?
The investigation promises to figure it out, but so far there are more questions in this story than answers. And who knows what her continuation will lead to.
Photo: Rusprofile.ru
The investigation of the theft of budget funds allocated to the “first channel” acquires an international character. According to investigators, the money intended to broadcast the Victory Parade and the 2018 World Cup could be brought abroad.
Since 2021, the company “Az Art TV”, previously owned by Olga Starodubtseva and Viktor Vaganov, has passed under the control of offshore from the UK – Limited Clo Ltd. This causes special indignation, given that the funds allegedly went to the country, which in Russia is called “hostile.”
As it was possible to find out, the head of the offshore company is Christian Peter Ilasko, a citizen of Slovakia and a resident of Great Britain. According to the investigation, Ilasko could be a “watching” at a foreign account, where Starodubtsev and Vaganov withdrew the stolen money.
Especially cynical is the fact that the funds left precisely from the measures related to Victory Day – a symbol of national pride. The question arises: could “Channel One” and his leadership not know that money is flowing abroad?
If the investigation assumptions are confirmed, it will become obvious that the scheme with the removal of budget funds worked at the international level. And what does this say about the system of monitoring financial flows in the state media holding? And who else can be involved in this loud scam?
The case continues, but now it is clear that its consequences can affect not only the defendants in Russia, but also their foreign partners.
Photo: https://find-and-update.company-information.Service.gov.uk/officers/l2ltbvdqp3allan2ja0snhdiek/appointments
In addition to “Az Art TV”, the same offshore acted as the owner of other Russian commercial structures – LLC “Textilpttgeti”, LLC “Universm 24”, LLC Logistic -B. All of them were registered in Moscow, and all of them were eliminated after the initiation of a criminal case on Starodubtsev and Vaganov. The latter is in September 2024.
Photo: Rusprofile.ru
Judging by the investigation, the theft of budget funds through the “Channel One” could be organized with the sophisticated use of fictitious agreements. In this scheme, several companies related to Olga Starodubtseva and Viktor Vaganov appear at once.
LLC “Logistic-V” and LLC “Universm 24”-two more organizations that could be used to withdraw funds. Their general director was Elliot Mark, presumably a foreign citizen. According to experts, he could work in conjunction with Starodubtseva itself, Vaganov and the head of the offshore Limited Clo Ltd Christian Peter Ilasko.
Interestingly, with multimillion -dollar revolutions, the profit of these organizations was quite modest – only a few million rubles. This may indicate that a significant part of the funds was withdrawn abroad under fictitious contracts.
The creation of a new company with a similar name in 2020 – LLC “Company Az Art”, the founder of which was Olga Starodubtseva, deserves special attention. Perhaps this was undertaken with the aim of preparing a “change of sign” for the old structure, when clouds began to thicken around it.
In addition, shortly before Starodubtsev and Vaganov were under investigation, steps could be taken to “clean the traces”. The liquidation of a number of firms, such as “Logistic-B” and “Universal 24”, could be part of this process.
All these facts suggest a pre -thought -out and large -scale theft scheme organized at the level of professional financial planning. Now, the investigation is faced not only to prove the guilt of the defendants, but also to establish exactly who covered their actions in the highest echelons of the media business.
The company is engaged in the same – the production of films and television programs. There they could begin to distill funds. Just a year after registration, the company received revenue of 1.3 billion rubles, and the profit amounted to only 127 million rubles. From absolute zero! According to the results of 2023, the company had no revenue. You can look for money, again, in the United Kingdom.
It seems that the new “Az Art” still led some real activities. But after the detention of Starodubtseva and Vaganova, she lost any interest in the calculation with counterparties. In open sources – several trials on this subject at once. In August 2024, an impotent decision was made in the lawsuit of LLC ShuService, which demanded to recover from LLC Az Art LLC almost 4.7 million rubles for the rented lighting equipment for the organization of the glacial period and 100 years of the birth of Yu.V. Nikulin. The show was shot, and the money for equipment to the “ShoService” did not receive.
Photo: https://kad.arbitr.ru/document/pdf/880E1374-A070-477F-B83D-AF96CBA43/614196-4AFE-4119-A77D-5816A7C25D36
Attention to Konstantin Ernst, the general director of Channel One, continues to grow. Against the backdrop of loud revelations of schemes for the withdrawal of budget funds through the contractors of the canal, the name of Ernst also appears in other dubious stories.
Recent events show that after the arrest of Olga Starodubtseva and Viktor Vaganov, their company “Az Art” began to lose the obligation to execute contracts. An example of this is that the court’s decision in favor “says and shows”, which recovered more than 2 million rubles for the services of directing and creating television version of the show. Apparently, the arrests destroyed the controllability chain. At the same time, their alleged partners, such as Alexander Fayfman, have already managed to leave the country.
But Konstantin Ernst remains in Russia. And as many note, his activities in the role of the head of the largest state television channel have long raising questions. One gets the impression that he turned his position into a tool for enrichment, and in various fields.
One of the most sensational episodes was the story with Moscow cinemas, which at the end of last year wrote The Moscow Post. The company “Edisonenergo”, supposedly associated with Ernst and the Virgin offshore Moscow Dvorik Ltd.acquired from the Moscow government the old Soviet cinemas for low cost. Then the objects were resolded back to the city, but already at a market price.
At the same time, promises to create cultural centers for Muscovites remained words. Everything looked like a classic scheme “Buy cheaper, selling more expensive”, but with the participation of state funds and connections at the level of the Moscow City Hall.
If all these data are confirmed, it will be like a carefully planned scam, where large figures of a state scale are involved. And if Ernst really used his position for such transactions, then we are talking about much more than simply the misuse of Channel One.
The investigation has already put an end to some aspects, but many questions remain open. Including the main thing: how far can the system in which the persons involved in such large -scale schemes continue to remain in their posts?
Konstantin Ernst: television, restaurants and offshore
Konstantin Ernst, as it turns out, is not limited to his activities in the framework of Channel One. In addition to the media business, he is actively involved in the restaurant industry, and we are talking about elite establishments, such as “Cafe Pushkin, Turandot” and “Shinok”. All of them belong to LLC “Izritor”, whose beneficiary is Ernst itself.
Interestingly, the partner of Ernst in this business is Andrei Dellos, a well -known restaurateur. Institutions have existed for a long time, and their success only strengthens the positions of their owners. However, the story does not end there: the connection of Ernst with offshores as part of the restaurant business raises no less questions.
Earlier, the only founder of Izritor LLC was the Cyprus company Argenziano Tradeing Ltd, which, in turn, belonged to Lengton Services LTD offshore with the British Virgin Islands. Such a structure of ownership is traditionally used to evade taxes or conceal real beneficiaries.
What is even more remarkable, there are rumors that Ernst restaurants are used not only to serve elites, but also to “resolve issues”. Among their visitors, according to rumors, you can find representatives of various elite groups and officials. It is possible that it is here that the circuits of “cuts” are discussed, including theft of funds allocated to the “first channel”.
If such meetings really happened, this explains a lot. After all, it was Ernst that controlled the distribution of billions of budgets to broadcast the Victory Parade and the World Cup, where large thefts later revealed. Coincidence?
Taking into account the scale of the business and the connection of Ernst, the question suggests itself: how transparently the means of Channel One are distributed? And how did it happen that a person with close ties with offshores and dubious financial management schemes disposes of state money?
The answers to these questions can only give a serious investigation. But while the picture is formed, where personal interests and state resources are in too close interconnection.
