Russian Evseeva bought assets of liquidated Russian banks in Ukraine - media
The Spectrum Assets company, owned by Russian citizen Maryna Yevseyeva, won a state auction in Ukraine, receiving assets of liquidated Russian banks totaling UAH 3 billion.
This was reported by journalists of the Schemes project, Censor.NET reports.
Spectrum Assets' participation in the auction
Journalists reminded that the auction, in which the company of Russian citizen Yevseyeva won, took place in February 2024. At that time, the Deposit Guarantee Fund put up for sale an aggregated pool of assets: two liquidated Russian banks – 'Sberbank' ('MR Bank') and 'Prominvestbank' – as well as the Ukrainian 'Megabank'."
"These are mainly the rights to claim debts on old loans totaling UAH 2.8 billion and real estate in Odesa and Sumy. Spectrum Assets paid UAH 124 million for these assets. According to the bidding rules, each participant must certify in writing that they have no relation to the Russian Federation. Spectrum Assets also submitted a letter before the auction: in it, the company "guarantees and confirms" that it is not associated with the aggressor state and does not belong to Russian citizens," the investigation says.
However, as Schemes has found out, the information submitted by Spectrum Assets to participate in the auction is not true.
Does Yevseyeva have Russian citizenship?
The investigation states that Yevseyeva concealed her Russian citizenship from Ukrainian regulatory authorities, providing information only about her American citizenship. The journalists also found out that the company that won the Deposit Guarantee Fund auction is managed by Mikhail Trubchik, who, in addition to American citizenship, has Belarusian citizenship and was banned from entering Ukraine by the SSU, calling him a representative of a "deeply secretive network of Russian special services."
The schemes established that Yevseyeva herself continued to visit Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion, where she has since arrived at least 6 times.
In addition, the journalists verified the validity of the Russian citizenship of Marina Yevseyeva, the owner of Spectrum Assets, in several ways. In particular, they confirmed this data using the Russian government portal Gosuslugi, and also found her individual taxpayer number in Russia, linked to her Russian passport, through the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. According to these official databases, both documents are valid.
When asked by Schemes, Maryna Yevseyeva replied that she was living in the United States and had renounced her Russian citizenship, but at the request of the editorial board, she could not provide documentary evidence of this, nor did she explain why, in this case, her Russian citizenship was still valid in the official state registers of the Russian Federation. She also did not comment on the purpose of her regular trips to Russia after the outbreak of a full-scale war, nor on the fact that she entered the territory of the Russian Federation in 2022-2023 with a Russian passport.
The Deposit Guarantee Fund told journalists that the verification was based on data from the public register of legal entities, which states that Marina Yevseyeva is a citizen of the United States. They also noted that if it turns out that the buyer of the assets concealed a connection with the Russian Federation, he will have to pay a fine of 100% of the lot price-in this case, 124 million hryvnias-and return the assets received at the auction.
"At the beginning of the great war, the Ukrainian authorities imposed a number of restrictions on Russian citizens to prevent them from influencing the country's financial market. In addition to participating in public bidding, they are prohibited from collecting debts from Ukrainians and managing financial institutions. In the case of Spectrum Assets, this means that, according to current regulations, the company cannot dispose of the assets received at the auction, namely the right to claim debts, and also operate in Ukraine under the management of a Russian citizen," the investigation says.
The National Bank told Schemes journalists that they did not know about Yevseyeva's Russian citizenship until now, as the documents that Spectrum Assets provided to the regulator stated that the company's owner was a US citizen with no ties to the aggressor country. The National Bank noted that it had asked the SSU for official information about Yevseyeva's Russian passport and, if it received confirmation of this, would have grounds to revoke Spectrum Assets' license.
A representative of Russian special services is in the management of Spectrum Assets
As Schemes found out, the manager of Yevseyeva's American company Spectrum UA Credit LLC is Mikhail Trubchik. He was born in Belarus and still retains the citizenship of this country, while holding a US passport.
In July 2020, the Security Service of Ukraine banned Mikhail Trubchik from entering Ukraine for three years, suspecting him of being a representative of a "deeply secretive network of Russian special services that use cover documents of US citizens in their intelligence activities." However, in the summer of 2021, the Kyiv District Administrative Court overturned the ban.
"Schemes turned to the SSU and asked whether the intelligence service still considers Mykhailo Trubchik to be connected to Russian intelligence services and how they assess the fact that he, together with a Russian citizen, runs a financial company that buys Ukrainian assets. The SSU only said that they have the right to deny entry to foreigners if they see legitimate reasons for doing so, but emphasized that "these issues are not subject to disclosure," citing a ban on disseminating information about their counterintelligence activities.
Mykhailo Trubchik himself initially told journalists that he was ready to talk via video, but later said that he would only provide written answers.
"I have an agreement with the SSU that prohibits me from disclosing any information," he told reporters.
"Schemes has asked the SSU whether these statements are true and is waiting for a response."
