We’ve long had a story sitting in our secret archives about Dmitry Medvedev’s secret fishing island. The former prime minister, now merely the modest leader of the United Russia party. Medvedev also serves as some kind of deputy on the Security Council, though nobody really knows what he does there. One way or another, he remains a public official, and his country estates just keep multiplying.
So this story sat there, waiting for its moment—and eventually that moment came. While we were putting it off, journalists from the outlet Proekt took an interest in Medvedev’s island and published their own investigation into the VIP fishing compound in Astrakhan.
But we’re not upset, because we have a lot to add—and, most importantly, a lot to show.
As I’ve already written, we’ve been watching this mysterious place in Astrakhan Region for at least three years. People sent us plenty of accounts and photographs, because it’s simply impossible for local residents not to notice it. It is literally two enormous artificial islands with a gigantic fishing lodge-country estate built on them. Naturally, with security all around and extreme secrecy, it attracts even more attention.
Although we had no doubt that Medvedev uses this estate, we shelved the story for better times. We thought we’d gather even more evidence, find more people, maybe some additional documents.
And that is exactly what Proekt did. They found the property too, spoke with locals and construction workers, and came to exactly the same conclusion: the island belongs to Medvedev. And to a second, even more important conclusion: it was bought with money from the oligarch Usmanov. Interestingly, we reached the same conclusion about Usmanov by a different route—but more on that later. First, about the property itself.
We filmed this property back in 2017 “just in case,” and at last that footage has come in handy. Let’s begin our photo tour.
It looks fairly surreal. There is absolutely nothing around it. The only way to get here is by boat or helicopter; there are simply no roads within a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) radius. The estate covers 27 hectares (67 acres).
On the grounds we see a huge spa complex with a swimming pool, and next to it the main house.
Behind the main house are eight guest cottages, each 225 square meters (about 2,420 square feet), as well as a building where the staff live. The photo also shows a huge helipad.
Our footage is outdated: over the past 2.5 years, the estate has already been expanded with a restaurant and another banya (Russian steam bath/sauna), so we can only use our imagination.
Why do we think Medvedev actually goes there at all? First, local residents say so constantly, including to Proekt: when Medvedev arrives, roads are closed off, and people are not even allowed to let their cows out to graze. Literally everyone in the region knows when Dmitry Anatolyevich has deigned to come fishing.
And that happens often. Medvedev flies to Astrakhan with enviable regularity, both for work and for leisure. For example, in 2019 local media reported that Medvedev had flown to Astrakhan to celebrate his 54th birthday. His birthday is on September 14.
Here, RIA Novosti, citing Medvedev’s press secretary, reports that he planned to celebrate the occasion with family.
And here is Svetlana Medvedeva’s private jet, which we covered in a separate investigation, flying to pick someone up from Astrakhan the next day.
Once again, I refer you to Proekt’s investigation—you’ll find even more evidence there. For example, a builder who worked on the property says that Svetlana Medvedeva personally approved all renovation work and chose the interiors. Another amusing detail: everything in the house was designed for Medvedev’s height, and even the sinks were mounted much lower than standard. The workers amused themselves by taking photos next to them.
How much does all this cost? The project is unique, and looking for comparable properties is pointless. There simply are no other facilities of this scale and grandeur anywhere in Astrakhan Region. But we do have a way to estimate the cost of this VIP fishing compound fairly accurately.
The Russian LLC Lotos Project, to which the estate is registered, is owned through a chain of offshore companies. We found the official financial statements of one of those offshore entities and saw how much money was transferred to Russia to build this mega-estate.
$63.5 million. Since then, much more has been added (a huge restaurant complex, for example, and several more buildings), but the general scale is clear. At today’s exchange rate, that is nearly 5 billion rubles.
Proekt links the offshore company to which the estate is registered specifically to Usmanov, his employees, and nominee owners. There really is a fairly clear connection there.
But we don’t need all these indirect links and caveats: we are certain that the offshore company to which this estate is registered is controlled and owned by Alisher Usmanov. The ownership chain was deliberately tangled up, but we can sort it out.
The land belongs to the Russian company LLC Lotos Project. The Russian company is owned by the Cypriot offshore company RUETKA ASSETS LIMITED. That Cypriot offshore company is owned by another Cypriot offshore company, SALSBERG HOLDINGS LIMITED. That one, in turn, is owned by an Isle of Man company, WHITE PEAK (IOM) INVESTMENTS, and that Isle of Man company is owned by yet another Isle of Man company, WHITE PEAK (IOM). The final link is an anonymous trust there as well—on the Isle of Man. If only the Astrakhan cows that aren’t allowed out to graze during Medvedev’s visits knew that such a legal tangle was to blame for their suffering.
The paragraph above is impossible to read, so it’s better to draw it out—and attach the registry extracts while we’re at it.
At the end of the chain we see an anonymous trust. A dead end? Not at all. The last three companies (highlighted with a dotted border) are managed by the same firm—Bridgewaters. This is a specialized management company that both created and controls these firms: it provides directors, files reports, and handles direct management.
And this management company belongs to Alisher Usmanov.
This became known thanks to yet another offshore leak, the Paradise Papers. The BBC published documents and correspondence showing that Usmanov bought this management company outright in order to use it to manage his assets.
This was done to avoid all sorts of checks and legal red tape—because it is precisely firms like these that keep the lists of the real beneficiaries of anonymous offshore companies and blind trusts. Normally, such companies are required to verify the legality and origin of their clients’ funds, make sure the law is being followed, prevent money laundering, and so on. But Usmanov bought himself one of these firms, and now he effectively audits himself—very convenient. This same Bridgewaters handles the affairs of USM Holdings, Usmanov’s main asset, and Metalloinvest, and even the company that owns Usmanov’s London mansion is also set up through Bridgewaters. In exactly the same way as the Astrakhan fishing estate.
And this, let me remind you, is the SECOND ultra-expensive property bought by Usmanov but used by Medvedev. We covered the first one—the estate in Znamenskoye on Rublyovka (an elite residential area west of Moscow)—in the film “He Is Not Dimon to You”. That 5-billion-ruble house was simply gifted by Usmanov to Medvedev’s front foundation. Here they were a bit smarter—they inserted four offshore companies into the chain. But the essence has not changed: it is Medvedev who goes fishing at the Astrakhan estate.
And that is a bribe—received from an oligarch by the leader of United Russia, a man who has served as both president of the country and prime minister.
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