Billion-dollar embezzlement, “fake” loans, and luxury real estate: how the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergey Dankvert, built a shadow empire through front men and “Agroplemsouz”
Yesterday we reported on the “obsession” of the head of Rosselkhoznadzor with Bentley cars. He has been buying every new model of the brand, and now he owns three. Today we will present several stories about where Dankvert gets such enormous funds.
In 2000, Sergey Dankvert, having taken the position of First Deputy Minister of Agriculture, immediately became interested in the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Plemzavod ‘Pushkinsky’” — the owner of a unique population of black sable, valued at about $1 billion. By his order, the director of the enterprise, Vladimir Los, turned one of the most profitable enterprises into a debtor. He began signing fake contracts stating that the enterprise was taking out large loans from firms registered on lost passports, debts which the fur farm ultimately could not repay. It is worth noting that this was not the first joint scheme involving Dankvert and Los. The latter had previously headed several state enterprises that successfully went bankrupt and passed into private hands.
The bankrupt “Plemzavod ‘Pushkinsky’” was seized by bailiffs, who sold it for 30 million rubles to businessman Denis Lavrov — also an acquaintance of Dankvert. Notably, the bailiff who carried out this operation, immediately afterward moved into a luxury house in one of the European countries.
Lavrov again began actively bankrupting the fur farm, and its major creditor became the company “Russian Fur.” “Russian Fur” began transferring animals to the Kaliningrad region in repayment of debts. From there, the entire population was supposed to be exported to Denmark. In this operation, in addition to Dankvert, then-Governor of the Moscow Region Boris Gromov and then-head of the Kaliningrad Region Georgy Boos also took part. The latter lobbied for the interests of “Russian Fur” and asked Gromov to ensure that no one from the Moscow regional authorities interfered with the large-scale scheme. On the site of the fur farm, which would have been freed after the sable were transferred to Denmark, companies controlled by Dankvert planned to build commercial and residential real estate.
When these facts came to light, the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation opened a case. In March 2009, Lavrov was taken into custody. Initially, he denied guilt, but later began giving testimony, including against Dankvert. When the issue of prosecuting the deputy minister arose, investigator Gennady Shantin was unexpectedly removed from the case, and all materials were transferred to Oleg Silchenko, who also headed the investigative team in the case against lawyer Sergey Magnitsky. However, by that time, Magnitsky had already died in pre-trial detention, and Silchenko had time for new cases. He promised to bring all officials to justice, but in the end, the investigation into the $1 billion embezzlement itself turned into a major scheme.
Denis Lavrov made a plea bargain. Under its terms, he revealed everything he knew about the involvement of Los and Dankvert in the fraud. Los was arrested. He also signed a pre-trial agreement and gave testimony against Dankvert. Silchenko claimed that in this way he was “cornering” Dankvert (since 2004, Dankvert has been the head of Rosselkhoznadzor) and would eventually imprison him. However, the date of imprisonment was repeatedly postponed. The last stated reason from the investigator: it was necessary for the courts to issue verdicts against Los and Lavrov first, and only then would he deal with Dankvert.
As a result, in 2010, thanks to plea deals, both escaped with relatively light sentences: Los received six years suspended, and Lavrov — one year in prison, which he had already served during pre-trial detention.
However, it later turned out that Silchenko never intended to bring a case against Dankvert. He sent all materials to the archive and gained a double benefit: he “covered” Dankvert and helped Los and Lavrov receive light sentences.
In 2020, a new criminal story emerged involving Dankvert as the main figure. Representatives of the Polish company “Mlekovita” in Russia, Yaroslav Sergeev and Nikolay Esinevsky, filed a complaint alleging that the head of Rosselkhoznadzor and his employee Konstantin Savenkov demanded €5 million to lift restrictions on the supply of “Mlekovita” dairy products. The police, of course, issued a decision refusing to open a criminal case, and later opened a defamation case against unidentified persons. The scandal in 2020 was significant and even required comments from the Kremlin. A few days later, Rosselkhoznadzor officially stated that “Mlekovita” had disavowed the accusations, with the company’s board chairman Dariusz Sapinsky allegedly claiming that the company had no representatives in Russia. Evidently, pressure on the Polish side was strong — because in reality, Esinevsky was well acquainted with Sapinsky (there are friendly photos of them), often visited and worked in Poland, and had several active companies in Russia. Moreover, the official “Mlekovita” representative office in Russia had been operating since 2012 — the company was registered in Kaliningrad, and the Polish firm directly acted as its founder.
After the scandal subsided, it turned out that the main figures of the story, Nikolay Esinevsky and his business partner and assistant Mikhail Khamenkov, had disappeared. They did not show up at their office, did not meet with friends, and could not be found at their place of residence. Lawyer Sergeev, who worked with Esinevsky, even filed a police report about their disappearance. Neither of them has appeared in public to this day.
At the same time, all of Esinevsky’s companies in Russia have been liquidated: two in September–October 2021, and another two in 2023–2024. None of them filed financial reports with the tax authorities after 2021. Khamenkov and other business partners of Esinevsky no longer have any business in Russia either. The “Mlekovita” representative office was also closed in 2021.
Meanwhile, Dankvert’s personal business has been thriving, which he has carefully built over the years. The official, who has held his position for over 20 years, owns extensive agricultural land (in the Kaluga region and the Moscow region), several mansions in the Moscow region, apartments in Moscow (including near Tsvetnoy Boulevard and on Staroslobodskaya Street), etc. Overall, the family’s real estate is estimated at around 4 billion rubles. In addition, Dankvert owns the hunting estate “Ozyornoye” in the Kaluga region, shares in several companies that sell timber and build houses, and a stake in JSC “Ferment” (whose founders have been hidden from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities since 2022). “Ferment” sells products based on elk and reindeer antlers, including the famous antler baths reportedly enjoyed by Shoigu and Putin. The asset manager of the head of Rosselkhoznadzor is Oksana Sheven, originally from the Bryansk region.
But this is only a small part of Sergey Dankvert’s business. He and his family also own “Management Company Agromenedzhment” and “Agroplemsouz” — one of the largest suppliers of breeding cattle in the country. Perhaps this company will supply new livestock to the Novosibirsk region. Through “Agroplemsouz,” Dankvert holds a stake in the Moscow-region “Plemzavod Ulyanino.” Overall, the net profit of companies associated with the head of Rosselkhoznadzor exceeded 1.2 billion rubles in 2025.
Members of his family are also involved in business. His daughter, Yulia Dankvert, together with family friend Roman Mishin (a neighbor of Alexey Dankvert, the official’s father, in the “Aviator” dacha cooperative), serves on the board of directors of the Kaluga-based JSC “Plemzavod named after V. N. Tsvetkov,” chairs meetings of the board of JSC named after Lakina (formerly the Lakina state farm in the Vladimir region), and owns a stake in the agricultural cooperative “Babaevo” (Vladimir region) and in the Moscow-based JSC “Rubin,” which manages real estate (66% of the company is registered to “Agroplemsouz”). “Rubin” owns, among other things, production facilities on Khlebozavodskaya Street in Lyubertsy, where an affiliated company “J-V-S” produced alcoholic beverages. Dankvert’s wife, Inna Alexandrovna, owns the Moscow company “Agrobiznes.” In addition, the Moscow company “Agroinvest,” whose founder and director is the same Roman Mishin, is affiliated with Dankvert’s assets: according to leaks, in 2020 Yulia Dankvert received COVID passes as an employee of this firm, and her Audi A8 was registered to a legal entity.
