Law enforcement officers have reported suspicions to the director and founder of an Austrian company that was subordinate to Russian oligarch Mikhail Shelkov. According to the investigation, the suspects supplied strategic products from a Ukrainian mining and processing plant worth 90 million hryvnias to Russian military enterprises.
This was reported by the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, and the details of the case indicate that this is precisely Shelkovʼs scheme.
The investigation says that this happened from January 2020 to December 2021. The suspects were part of a criminal group created by Russian oligarch Mikhail Shelkov, the ultimate beneficiary of a Russian corporation that is one of the worldʼs largest titanium producers and part of the Russian state corporation Rostec. Shelkov also owned a mining and processing plant since 2012 — the company has now been returned to state ownership.
Russian enterprises that received these strategic products from Ukraine directly manufacture weapons for the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
However, under contracts, titanium-containing concentrates were supplied to a company registered in Austria, although in fact they were immediately shipped to the Russian Federation. The products were exported at undervalued prices.
The suspects, the founder and director of the Austrian company, are accused of sponsoring actions aimed at forcibly changing the borders of the territory and state border of Ukraine. They are also charged with tax evasion and laundering of illegally obtained property.
As part of international cooperation, the suspect was also sent to Austria.
What preceded this
Russian oligarch Shelkov was reported in July last year on suspicion of organizing this scheme, under which Russia received Ukrainian titanium for the war.
Oligarch Mikhail Shelkov has owned the mining and processing plant since 2012, when it was part of the Russian state corporation Rostech. The company is one of the worldʼs largest titanium producers. Previously, all corporate rights, property, vehicles, and money in the plantʼs bank accounts were seized and then transferred to the ownership of Ukraine.
In June 2023, the SBU gathered evidence of Shelkovʼs involvement in the hidden supply of Ukrainian titanium raw materials to Russia, where they were used to make Caliber missiles.
In June 2021, the NSDC imposed sanctions against Mykhailo Shelkov as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of VSMPO-Avisma, the worldʼs largest producer of titanium for the aerospace industry.