Shoigu’s daughter, a submarine shipyard, and two criminal oligarchs: Meet the Russian business partners of Estonian entrepreneurs

In cooperation with the Russian-language Estonian outlet Delovõje Vedomosti.

Доступно на русском языке

Estonian citizens make money in Russia mostly through logistics and transportation — including via contracts with Russian Railways, which is under international sanctions. However, their activity extends into a wider range of sectors: from household and construction chemicals and concrete to Chinese handbags, cocoa, and alcohol. None of the Estonian businesspeople examined by The Insider hold Russian citizenship.

Together with Shoigu’s daughter

Until recently, the Russian company Atlas Chain was successfully engaged in cargo logistics and IT solutions. Its revenue for 2024 amounted to 2.4 billion rubles (more than $30 million). However, in September of 2025, the company was declared bankrupt and placed under external administration. Still, during just two years of war, it managed to pay 242 million rubles in taxes ($3.1 million) to the Russian budget.

The founder and co-owner of Atlas Chain is Estonian citizen Oleg Kraus.

In 2020, Kraus acquired a business partner: Capital Perform LLC, which at the time belonged to Ksenia Shoigu, received a 40 percent stake in the company. Back then, the Estonian entrepreneur also served as managing partner of MedPoint24, another of Ksenia Shoigu’s projects, which focused on providing medical examinations for taxi drivers.

According to border service data, during the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kraus frequently traveled between Russia and Estonia, facing none of the difficulties that Russians often encounter (even those who hold European visas).

Estonia’s richest woman and two criminal oligarchs

Tatjana Rose (formerly Liksutova by marriage) — one of the wealthiest women in Estonia — also travels freely in Europe on her Estonian passport. However, in Russia, she profits from railway transportation, cargo storage, customs clearance, and the labeling of imported alcohol.

Rose controls around two dozen Russian legal entities, the most prominent of which is Tverskoy Express LLC, with revenue of 2.5 billion rubles ($31.4 million) last year. The company manages high-speed transport between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Her partners include oligarchs Iskandar Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev, who are linked to the Izmaylovo organized crime group and profit from the war in Ukraine. They are also notorious for seizing Russian Railways assets through corrupt schemes.

Although Tatjana Rose amassed much of her wealth thanks to government contracts obtained through her former husband, Moscow Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov, she is not on any sanctions lists. This allows her Russian companies to freely import and export goods. For instance, last year, the customs and logistics complex Terminal Zapadny LLC imported Italian-made packaging equipment (from Smipack S.p.A.) via the Slovak firm Novik Invest S.R.O.

Another of Rose’s companies, the logistics operator Novik Rail LLC, receives railcar bodies, wheels, mufflers, and other components through another Slovak firm, Carmel Logistics S.R.O. Her former partner in this business, Sergey Glinka (the de facto husband of Moscow Mayoral press secretary Gulnara Penkova), owns three companies in Estonia: GST Investments, NordMeOH, and SMG Projects.

The Estonian businesswoman also has a joint venture with Russian Railways — TLC Vostok–Zapad LLC, a terminal and logistics center located in the Kaliningrad region. In addition, her Estonian company owns one-third of Aeroexpress, which transports passengers to and from Moscow’s commercial airports.

Russian Railways contractor

Another Estonian citizen, Alexander Simonov, earns money through contracts with Russian Railways. RegionTransService LLC, in which Simonov holds a 45 percent stake, services the railway’s rolling stock. Last year, the company reported 13.5 billion rubles ($169.6 million) in revenue and paid over 671 million rubles ($8.4 million) in taxes to the Russian budget.

On its official website, RegionTransService LLC makes sure to congratulate Russians on patriotic holidays — including on Defenders of the Fatherland Day, even amid the so-called “special military operation.”

GRU-linked contractors of the Admiralty Shipyards

A similar Defenders of the Fatherland Day greeting can also be found on the website of Regent Baltika, a company producing equipment for processing polyurethane systems and components. It is owned by Estonian citizen Dmitry Rootsi.

However, since 2023, the businessman has been serving time in an Estonian prison on charges of treason. According to the pRosecution, Rootsi and his associates, with support from Russia’s GRU, were actively forming a paramilitary organization.

One of Regent Baltika’s clients was St. Petersburg-based Admiralty Shipyards JSC, a manufacturer of warships and submarines. However, Regent Baltika CEO Vitaly Voronin commented that it was not appropriate to speak of Rootsi’s guilt given that cooperation with the Russian defense enterprise was “not on a large scale.”

Another Estonian-owned contractor of Admiralty Shipyards (among other defense enterprises) is Kaliningrad-based Elme Messer K LLC. Its founder is Aktsiaselts Elme Messer Gaas, from Tallinn. The ultimate beneficiaries are listed as Mark, Igor, and Fyodor Berman, as well as Stefan Messer.

Elme Messer Gaas produces and supplies industrial gases in Russia. Since August 2022, Elme Messer Rus has operated a new high-tech plant for the production of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. In 2020, Russian authorities provided the Estonian company with preferential loans for the construction of the plant. The project’s stated purpose was to reduce Russian enterprises’ dependence on industrial gas imports from EU countries.

Igor Berman is the figure who has most frequently traveled to Russia, including during the war (possibly in an attempt to sell the company). However, he has been unable to do so for several years.

Building and transport assistance

The Estonian company Wolf Group is a major European manufacturer of construction chemicals. It owns the brands Penosil (construction foam) and Tempsi (building panels). In Russia, Wolf Group operates two subsidiaries: Wolf Group Eurasia LLC and Wolf Group East LLC.

The Estonian owners, Jaanus Päeväli and Jaan Puusaag, prefer not to comment on the activities of their companies registered in Zhukovsky, near Moscow. Last year, the combined revenue of the two Russian subsidiaries exceeded 3.7 billion rubles ($46.4 million), and since the start of the full-scale war they have paid 133.6 million rubles ($1.7 million) in taxes to the Russian budget.

At the same time, earlier this year, the Estonian authorities stripped Russians who permanently reside in Estonia of their right to vote in local elections. The decision was supported by the country’s former prime minister and current EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. As revealed during a scandal two years ago, a company connected with Kalla’s husband, Arvo Hallik, cooperated with the St. Petersburg-based Aeroprom plant, which produces aerosol packaging. Aeroprom LLC is still owned by the Estonian company Pottala OÜ, whose owner is Emeri Lepp. Compared to the pre-invasion year of 2021, Aeroprom’s net profits have increased by a factor of more than five — from 14.3 million rubles in 2021 ($204,000 under the exchange rate at the time) to 78.4 million rubles ($984,000) in 2024.

Meanwhile, Addilon LLC, half of which is controlled through Tallinn-based ADDINOL Lube Oil OÜ, has quadrupled its net profit. The company trades in lubricants.

Smolensk-based SPT LLC, which sells products for the footwear, furniture, and automotive industries, has increased its net profit by one and a half times over the three years of war — to 22 million rubles ($276,000) — with 2024 revenue reaching nearly 1 billion rubles ($12.6 million). The Russian company is owned by the Estonian firm Avail Eesti OÜ. Its beneficiary is Belarusian citizen and Lithuanian resident Pavel Lukatenok.

According to customs data for 2024–2025, SPT imports from Europe a range of goods: polyester polyols, leather, and aromatic agents for household chemicals. Supplies are routed through Latvia, Poland, and Lithuania. Another Estonian company owned by Lukatenok, Belgroup Baltia, is also involved in the supply chain.

In addition, Estonian transport company Estma continues to operate successfully in the Russian market. It is controlled through Aktsiaselts Eesti Mereagentuur by Estonian national Galina Ignatenko. Estma’s revenue last year amounted to 1.1 billion rubles ($13.8 million).

Ignatenko is a prominent businesswoman in Estonia. She is the widow of the founder of Eesti Mereagentuur, the first private agency in the post-Soviet space specializing in ship chartering, agency services, and freight forwarding.

Another Russia-based company, Betoneks–Saint Petersburg LLC, reported revenue of 1.3 billion rubles ($16.3 million) in 2024. The plant, which produces reinforced concrete products, is owned by the Estonian company Betoneks. According to a border service data leak, one of its shareholders, Lyudmila Kanape, has traveled to Russia at least four times since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Similarly, Estonian Liana Torosyan has continued to travel between Estonia and Russia during the war. Through her company Ladiva OÜ, she directly owns Moscow-based Mikado LLC and Nozomi LLC, which trade in Chinese clothing, footwear, and handbags. Last year, the two companies earned 1.5 billion rubles ($18.8 million).

Estonian citizen Eldar Agayev imports Dutch tulips to Russia through his company Tri Semerki LLC. The firm also operates a nursery for ornamental plants in the Kaliningrad region. Agayev also owns Zeleny Sad LLC, which receives government contracts from the Kaliningrad authorities for landscaping work and the supply of flowers and seedlings. Last year, the Russian companies owned by the Estonian businessman brought in 726 million rubles ($9.1 million) in revenue.

Cocoa and alcohol

Kaliningrad-based Trading House Panamir LLC imports cocoa paste and cocoa powder into Russia. In 2024 alone, it imported $25 million worth of products. The company’s owner is Estonian national Kirill Gorlach.

The sender is his Tallinn-based firm Panamir OÜ. According to its official website, the company is a “regular supplier to well-known chocolate producers in the EU and CIS countries.” By the end of 2026, it plans to open a new cocoa butter production plant in the Estonian port of Muuga.

Last year, TH Panamir’s revenue exceeded 2.4 billion rubles ($30.1 million). Gorlach regularly travels to Russia.

Also notable in the Russian food market is Milkline LLC, owned by Estonian citizen Denis Ivanov. The company is engaged in wholesale cheese trading and reported 1.2 billion rubles ($15.0 million) in revenue last year.

Postnoff & Co LLC, based in Kashira near Moscow, is controlled by the Estonian company SunnyCorp OÜ. The Russian firm manages several vodka brands. Its revenue last year reached 1.3 billion rubles ($16.3 million).