Since Viktor Medvedchuk was exchanged for 200 captured Ukrainian soldiers in September 2022, he has been living in Russia, giving interviews, writing articles and launching a new political project.
According to the Russian-language office of Radio Liberty, he may have at least three sources of income.
In particular, these are Siberian oil, Moscow real estate and Donetsk metal business.
In particular, according to reports, companies associated with Medvedchuk have gained access to reserves of almost 20 million tonnes of oil. Their former owner tried to resist the invaders but ended up behind bars. The company in question is Rus-Oil and its former owner, businessman Alexei Khotin.
Another source of Medvedchuk's income is expensive Moscow real estate. In 2020, Medvedchuk's wife became a co-owner of the Moscow-based Geliymash plant, which was assigned nine hectares of expensive land. By selling it, Geliymash may have earned about 15 billion roubles.
The news website also says that Medvedchuk's people ousted Viktor Yanukovych's entourage from trading in metal from the occupied territories of Ukraine for $2 billion.
The Russian business climate also helps Medvedchuk make money: his interests are protected by the Prosecutor-General's Office, while structures associated with the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, help him make money.
· In July 2023, Medvedchuk registered and headed an anti-Ukrainian "public organisation" in Russia. Fugitives from Ukraine join the movement: political commentators, MPs from the OPFL and spindoctors accused of treason and separatism.
· The companies associated with Medvedchuk received at least $350 million in total revenue in 2022. Under the guise of political usefulness to the Putin regime, Medvedchuk is actively expanding his economic activities in Russia.