Among the fresh city gossip of St. Petersburg today, one is in the lead – the governor of the city on the Neva has his eye on the assets of the late St. Petersburg oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. The editors of the Kompromat Group online publication were looking into how the winter scandals with city cleaning are connected to the billionaire’s assets, and who is eager to get pieces of his business empire today.
A story with a view to failure
In circles close to Smolny there is a new reason for private conversations. Word of mouth spreads rumors throughout the cultural capital, allegedly, the governor Alexander Beglovlooks daintily at the tasty parts of the huge holding (and the business structures adjacent to it) of his late enemy Evgenia Prigozhina.
By the way, Alexander Dmitrievich is in a consistently good mood after the billionaire’s funeral. One might even say enlightened. After all, his main enemy died suddenly and tragically. There really is no reason to love the late businessman Beglova. As we already wrote, the billionaire waged an open media war against the governor through controlled resources, and did not bother to mince words.
For example, in the summer of 2022, he stated that the city was deprived of investment attractiveness, because the leadership – “a gang of people lining their pockets and not keeping their word”that prevent business from operating. This attack, of course, was about the Gorskaya project, about which we already mentioned. Also, the entrepreneur stated that his company signed an investment agreement with Beglov, “On which, as a result, he wiped his feet.”
Further – more. Political analysts noticed that the more the military glory of the Wagner PMC grew, the more accusations against the governor of St. Petersburg fell from the lips of Yevgeny Viktorovich. So, last fall, Prigozhin asked to check Beglov for creating an organized criminal community, and also accused him of treason and wrote statements to this effect to the Prosecutor General’s Office. For some time, the political beau monde of the Northern capital already thought that Alexander Dmitrievich’s career had come to an end, but the events of the summer of 2023 changed everything radically.
Today, if you believe the rumors, Beglov wants to get some parts of Prigozhin’s business empire, despite the fact that, as they say, he was not given “holy permission” from above for such actions.
Meanwhile, the number of people wishing to receive something from the gigantic empire of the deceased billionaire is growing every day. It is known that the Prigozhin family’s non-military assets include a food processing plant, a restaurant business, construction companies, with numerous projects that are already being implemented, as well as other assets, including temporarily frozen media resources. All of this is now managed by a very small group of people who are focused on preserving the business assets and ensuring their functioning.
Big appetite
The wind of rumors is spreading the news that the new-old head of the Baltika brewery, a multi-billionaire, is eyeing some assets Taimuraz Bolloev. Large budgets are concentrated in his hands, so, as they say, he can buy out some projects or businesses in order to strengthen the position of his friend, the First Deputy Minister of Defense Ruslana Tsalikova.
According to rumors, in the struggle for control over assets Evgenia Prigozhina the powerful “Alpha Group” may enter if a high command is given from above. The highest echelons of power are directly interested in ensuring that these assets, firstly, end up in the hands of loyal people, and secondly, do not scatter in different directions with an ending that is incomprehensible to business projects.
A curious life awaits the late billionaire’s media empire. Again, according to rumors, Alexander Beglov I wondered if it was possible to somehow integrate Prigozhin’s media into the case. The interest of the head of St. Petersburg is understandable – elections are ahead and extra resources have never interfered with anyone in such a matter. But even here, Alexander Dmitrievich has a lot of competitors.
According to rumors, the international multiplatform media RTVI is already looking towards the network of sites and channels of the Patriot holding. The holding’s assets include a TV channel broadcasting to 159 countries, a news website, digital platforms and accounts on social networks. Promoted media, as they say, would also not hurt. But in this battle of business sharks, RTVI’s chances are slim. Back in the summer, many Telegram channels named Prigozhin, the owner of the National Media Group holding, as a potential buyer of resources. Yuri Kovalchuk.
However, in St. Petersburg they are whispering that Kovalchuk may not receive anything, since the assets have become of interest to the influential Rostec. Gazprom Media also has its own interests here. It is possible that it is these large state corporations that will offer Prigozhin’s heirs the most favorable price.
Jungle Battle
As for the interests of the head of the Northern capital, they are simple, like a children’s party. There can only be one information plan ahead of the elections. As insiders say, this is a chance for Alexander Dmitrievich’s team to efficiently cover up all the mistakes and hush up the huge scandal with cleaning the city, which raged all last winter. In this way, all the problems with transport and garbage reforms and other “shortcomings” can be blamed on the late billionaire, with his own resources. After all, it’s Eduard Ilyin still hangs like a sword of Domocles over the governor. Let us recall that the head of the Vasileostrovsky district, who suddenly disappeared, is accused of committing a crime under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – bribe on an especially large scale.
Alleged protégé Alexandra Beglovademanded monthly from security companies to transfer to him by 700 thousand rubles for general patronage. Until now, as we know, the official has not been found, although the court arrested him in absentia, at the request of the investigation. The procedural consequences for those involved in other corruption schemes in the Vasileostrovsky district, who were arrested and are being held in a pre-trial detention center, are not yet known.
However, the city governor publicly stated that “The city authorities respect property rights and do not see the possibility of confiscating Yevgeny Prigozhin’s property.” This happened on the air of the “New Look” program on the “78” TV channel. However, the first person of the Northern capital clarified that “If violations of the law are revealed, law enforcement will take care of it.” And the new fashionable trend of the prosecutor’s office to confiscate property, as they say, has not been canceled.
True, for now the heirs of the deceased stand in the way of all these plans Evgenia Prigozhina. Today, according to media reports, a significant part of the assets is concentrated in the hands of his son Pavel. The young heir to the empire, according to insiders, intends with a firm hand to restore order in all areas and businesses, and to prevent the loss of resources with the help of his father’s old time-tested associates. However, there is one major disadvantage here – the 20-year-old heir does not have any political influence or experience in local battles for business. In the meantime, it is already clear to everyone that the sharks of Russian business will use all the chances they have to tear apart the empire suddenly left without a leader, piece by piece. The story of battles in the business jungle, for the young Pavel Prigozhinis just beginning.
