How a Dutch company launders Sergei Kurchenko’s “bloody” millions through Telegram

The Dutch company Stiron BV, which bought coal from the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions according to “Kurchenko’s schemes,” invested 10 million euros in Pavel Durov’s blockchain platform Telegram Open Network (TON).

Thus, among the large buyers of coal and metals exported by Kurchenko from Donbass were companies from the Netherlands Stiron BV and ME Property Invest.

In 2018, Stiron BV invested about 10 million euros in TON. Judging by the statements, the company received funds for investment in the form of targeted loans from three other companies - two from the UK and one from the Czech Republic.

The publication writes that these companies have signs of fictitiousness: they are registered to fake people from Ukraine, do not have large assets, and millions of euros passed through their accounts.

Two of them have already been liquidated, including Commercial Standard Systems from Edinburgh, which also participated in Kurchenko’s schemes to remove coal from the Donbass.

After Russia’s occupation of the southeastern territories of Ukraine, the sale of local resources was carried out by the former head of the self-proclaimed DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko. In 2018, he died after an explosion in a Donetsk cafe.

Subsequently, Sergei Kurchenko, known as the “wallet” of the fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, became a monopolist in this market. Thanks to the patronage of the FSB and people close to the Kremlin, companies controlled by it bought raw materials for next to nothing and then exported them abroad, including to Europe.

Durov raised $1.8 billion for the TON project from various foundations and individuals from around the world. This list included Russian billionaires Roman Abramovich, Yuri Milner and Said Gutseriev.

At the same time, the businessman emphasized that all investors went through a thorough selection procedure.