Andrey Naumov, before leaving Ukraine on the eve of the “big” war, bought luxury apartments in Turkey

The former head of the Main Directorate of Internal Security of the SBU, Andrei Naumov, who left Ukraine on the eve of the full-scale invasion and is challenging the verdict in the case of money laundering in Serbia, purchased three apartments in an elite residential complex near the Turkish city of Alanya on the Mediterranean coast.

The total official cost of the acquired property is 17.5 million hryvnia. Journalists from Schemes (Radio Liberty) found this out. His family lives in Turkey, and Andrei Naumov himself is awaiting a decision from the Serbian court, which should finally determine the fate of the former high-ranking SBU official - he will be expelled from Serbia for 5 years or he can remain in the country where he has been since June 2022.

In parallel, Naumov’s activities in Ukraine are being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation: on suspicion, in particular, of illegal enrichment, organizing forgery of documents when crossing the Serbian border and fraudulent acquisition of funds during his tenure as the head of a Ukrainian state-owned enterprise. Since August 2024, at the request of the State Bureau of Investigation, Interpol has put the ex-chief of the SBU on the international wanted list. Naumov was also at the center of journalistic investigations related to corruption, smuggling of money and other valuables abroad. Separately, “Schemes” talked about his elite family property, which did not correspond to the declared income of a civil servant. Naumov himself denies his guilt and states that he is “politically persecuted” in Ukraine.

"Schemes" has data from the Turkish real estate registry, which indicates that in 2022 Andrey Naumov purchased a number of apartments in the Konak Seaside Premium residential complex in the Kargicak district of Alanya municipality. This is a premium residential complex in a picturesque area of ​​the Mediterranean resort.

According to advertisements on specialized real estate websites, apartments with an area of ​​about 100 meters are now being sold in this residential complex at prices ranging from 340 to 460 thousand euros.

According to extracts from the registry, Naumov purchased three residential premises for a total amount of almost 8.5 million Turkish liras - in terms of Ukrainian currency in 2022 it was about 17.5 million hryvnia.

The area of ​​the largest apartments is 185 square meters. According to the documents, the transaction amount was almost 3.5 million Turkish liras, which is more than 7 million hryvnia at the NBU exchange rate at the beginning of 2022. The second apartment - for 3.1 million liras (6.5 million UAH) - is slightly smaller, 115 square meters.

According to extracts from the registry, Naumov purchased three residential premises for a total amount of almost 8.5 million Turkish liras - in terms of Ukrainian currency in 2022 it was about 17.5 million hryvnia.

The area of ​​the largest apartments is 185 square meters. According to the documents, the transaction amount was almost 3.5 million Turkish liras, which is more than 7 million hryvnia at the NBU exchange rate at the beginning of 2022. The second apartment - for 3.1 million liras (6.5 million UAH) - is slightly smaller, 115 square meters.

The area of ​​the smallest apartment on the third floor of the residential complex, owned by Andrey Naumov, is 70 square meters. Their cost, according to documents, is 1.8 million Turkish liras (3.7 million UAH).

According to Schemes sources close to Andrei Naumov’s social circle, his family is using real estate on the Turkish coast while he himself is in Serbia awaiting the final court decision in the case on charges of money laundering. As a result of the judge's verdict, the ex-SBU general may be expelled from the country - and then, it is possible, he may be reunited with his family in Turkey. However, there is still no clear answer to the question of which country Naumov will be sent to - without a court decision and further clarification by him and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the deportation procedure.

Expulsion is just one of the options for the development of events for Naumov, if the verdict of the trial court is confirmed by appeal. The court may also overturn this decision or change the penalty.

A former high-ranking SBU official ended up in Serbia in the summer of 2022. At first, Schemes reported that he left Ukraine just hours before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. In June of the same year, 2022, it became known that he was detained in a car while trying to get from Serbia to North Macedonia. Naumov was in the company of a Ukrainian businessman, German citizen Alexander Akst. In the car they were driving, they found 600 thousand euros, 125 thousand dollars and at least two valuable emeralds.

At that time, the media reported that Naumov allegedly intended to obtain political asylum in Russia and become “a participant in the pseudo-trial of President Vladimir Zelensky in the Russian Federation.”

In the end, this did not happen, and in Serbia the trial of Naumov began in November 2022. In September 2023, a court in Serbia sentenced him to one year in prison for the first time on charges of money laundering. But in the winter of 2024, the Court of Appeal overturned the first instance verdict and returned the case for a new trial.

In October 2024, the former head of the Main Directorate of Internal Security of the SBU was re-sentenced in Serbia to one year in prison, a fine of 1,700 euros and 5 years of deportation from Serbia (with the condition that the time served will not be counted towards the above-mentioned measure).

But so far the Court of Appeal has not said its final word - in response to a request from Radio Liberty journalists, they reported that they received a first instance verdict from the Nis High Court to make a decision on Naumov’s future only on December 25, 2024. They did not specify when the review would begin.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers are also interested in Naumov. However, in response to a request for his extradition, Serbia finally refused to extradite Ukraine in the fall of 2023. Since then, Ukrainian law enforcement officers have no longer contacted their Serbian colleagues.

At the same time, Andrei Naumov is still on the international wanted list of Interpol, at the request of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). In a comment to the Public, Naumov himself stated that he lives in Serbia, and the SBI knows about his whereabouts.

“Schemes” asked the State Bureau if they knew about Naumov’s Turkish property, in response they noted that they were checking these facts as part of one of the criminal proceedings.

Journalists separately noted that in the city of Alanya, in the same Konak Seaside Premium complex, German citizen Alexander Akst also purchased an apartment, together with whom the Serbian police detained Naumov. In Ukraine, Akst was the founder of several companies, including the postal operator Premium Package. He was repeatedly included in the Ukrainian sanctions lists - as former NSDC Secretary Alexey Danilov noted, he was a “category of smugglers.” The last sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council against Akst were introduced in October 2024, for a period of 3 years.

Akst was in custody, but, according to journalists, is now free.

Naumov himself in Ukraine is suspected of crimes in Ukraine under various articles by the State Bureau of Investigation.

In particular, in the misappropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it through abuse of official position, as well as abuse of power or official position and fraudulent acquisition of more than 3.2 million hryvnia - during his tenure as head of a state-owned enterprise during 2019-2021 . As Schemes reported, before working at the SBU, Naumov was the head of the state enterprise “Center for Organizational, Technical and Information Support for Exclusion Zone Management,” which deals with the Chernobyl exclusion zone. He was responsible for managing the economic complex of the exclusion zone, as well as for communicating with the public regarding the radiation situation. The SBI suspects Naumov, in particular, of misleading government agencies and, for selfish reasons, being able to maintain a high salary for a civil servant at a time when he had already gotten a job in the SBU.

Also, according to the SBI, Naumov could collect and transfer to the Russian special services data constituting a state secret, in particular, regarding the security systems of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. However, no suspicion of this fact was announced to him.

Ex-chief of the SBU Naumov could transfer secret data on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to the Russian special services

Andrei Naumov came to the SBU shortly after Ivan Bakanov headed the service in 2019. Subsequently, he headed the internal security department of the department, as a result of which the WB Directorate changed its status to “Main Directorate”, which gave its head new powers and influence in the service. Dismissed from service at the end of July 2021.

The ex-SBU official was at the center of journalistic investigations related to corruption, smuggling of money and other valuables abroad. In October 2020, journalists from the Radio Liberty project “Schemes” discovered Naumov’s real estate, which did not correspond to the declared income of the civil servant.

At the beginning of May 2024, employees of the State Bureau of Investigation informed Naumov of a new suspicion - illegal enrichment. According to the department, we are talking about the fact that Naumov became the owner of luxury cars and cash while holding senior positions in the SBU.

Earlier, commenting on the announcement of suspicion, Naumov said that he was being persecuted on the basis of “fabricated facts, long ago refuted by Western courts and intelligence agencies.” Naumov’s defense also tried to appeal some of the SBI’s suspicions in court, but to no avail.

In June 2024, the State Bureau reported another suspicion to Andrei Naumov - already of organizing the forgery of official documents. According to investigators, he allegedly did this in order to avoid criminal liability in Serbia, in order to justify the origin of the money with which he was detained at the border. This data, as Schemes were told by the State Bureau of Investigation, was transferred to Serbian law enforcement officers.

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, one of the criminal proceedings against Naumov has already been transferred for consideration to the Pechersky Court of the capital on September 24 of this year. The department did not specify which episode.

“Schemes” asked Naumov for comment regarding the purchase of real estate in Turkey, the origin of funds for them and his position regarding the charges against him in Serbia and Ukraine.

In a written response, Naumov noted:

“As part of the investigation into criminal proceedings in Serbia, requests were made, among other things, to Turkey. After a thorough check of all my (and my family’s) transactions and the origin of funds, no violations of the law were established.”

At the same time, the ex-official did not answer the question about the value of the Turkish property and the sources of the funds for which he acquired it.

When journalists clarified that the property he acquired gives the right to obtain Turkish residency, Naumov said:

“I am not a resident or citizen of any other country except Ukraine”

Regarding the trial in Serbia, Andrei Naumov noted that he “hopes for a fair decision.” The ex-official called all events related to him on the territory of this country “orchestrated.”

“My detention in Serbia took place with the participation of the Ukrainian special services, during which they tried to implicate me on the basis of their fictitious certificates about my alleged participation in serious crimes on the territory of Serbia. After not a single suspicion was confirmed, the Serbian side began to look for at least something to justify my detention only for violating administrative legislation. The verdict of the Serbian court was orchestrated entirely from Ukraine and is based solely on falsified information received from Ukraine,” he said. He named the reasons for this as “political persecution in Ukraine.”

Andrei Naumov added that he considers the decision of the Serbian court “illegal” and, if it is confirmed by the Court of Appeal, he plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Regarding his probable place of stay, Naumov noted: “The court can only decide to ban staying on the territory of Serbia, so deciding where to move next is a responsibility assigned solely to me.”

Naumov has not yet responded to clarification of the “Schemes”, which country he is considering and whether it could be Türkiye.