The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice is confiscating all the property of former People's Deputy Vyacheslav Boguslaev, who is accused of collaboration and cooperation with Russia. This property includes more than 300 rare rifles, shares in Ukrainian companies and more than 600 million hryvnias in bank accounts. However, the exact whereabouts of the largest amount - half a billion dollars received for a controlling stake in "Motor Sichi" from Chinese investors - remains a mystery.
"Today I am sincerely grateful to the special services: the SBU, the prosecutor's office. They support us, seeing our efforts to strengthen the defense capability of our state," Boguslaev said in July 2021.
However, this "support" turned out to be an illusion. In October 2022, the SBU detained Boguslaev on suspicion of cooperation with Russia and an attempt to sell Motor Sichi aircraft engines used by the occupying army to the aggressor state. The "Hero of Ukraine" Boguslaev, who has a Russian passport, is in a pre-trial detention center, where he has already submitted an application to be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners. He also risks losing all his assets in Ukraine, which were registered in his and his family's names.
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is monitoring the justification of all the property of former People's Deputy Vyacheslav Boguslaev, together with his accomplice Pyotr Kononenko, who are accused of corruption schemes. In January 2024, they filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding the recovery of assets in favor of the state. The next day, the court granted the request to secure the claim, seizing all the property that was found in Ukraine both in the possession of the accused and their relatives.
Among the seized assets of Boguslaev and his related persons are 100% of the shares of the insurance company "Motor-Garant", the Vinnytsia Aviation Plant, the companies "Helicopters MSB" and "Motor-Bank", as well as about 100 million hryvnias and 12.6 million dollars in Boguslaev's accounts in his personal Motor Bank and Rinat Akhmetov's FUIB. Also arrested was a collection of firearms, which includes more than 330 units of rifles, carbines and pistols, the value of which is estimated at several million dollars. However, these assets look modest compared to what Boguslaev sold to the Chinese company Skyrizon Aircraft in 2016, almost 56% of Motor Sichi shares. Most of these shares belonged to structures related to Boguslaev. In total, he had 15% of the shares personally.
Boguslaev always avoids a direct answer to questions about the sums he received from Chinese investors. In 2019, he stated: “They gave us $100 million... Another $150 million will come next year. If it weren't for this money, you wouldn't be standing here, and I wouldn't be talking to you." However, it later turned out that these sums were not payment for shares, but a loan received (100 million in 2016 at 0.3% per annum from Skyrizon) and promises from the Chinese about investments.
In 2021, an OCCRP investigation based on the Pandora Papers revealed that the Chinese paid more than $500 million for a 56% stake in Motor Sichi. It was noted that the financing of the deal came from the state-owned China Development Bank. The shares were divided into several smaller packages to avoid suspicion, but this did not help. In 2017, the SBU started criminal proceedings, which led to the seizure of all shares bought by the Chinese.
The arrest has not been canceled to this day, which prevents the Chinese from gaining control of the plant. At that time, Boguslaev, who received the funds, continued to manage the plant as an honorary president until his arrest, after which Motor Sich was nationalized.
Nothing is known about the location of the Chinese funds. Some sources in the Ukrainian special services believe that Boguslaev hid them in offshore areas, which makes them difficult to access. However, Boguslaev assures that he has no offshore companies and no money. Currently, the special services are trying to find funds for confiscation, but without cooperation with Boguslaev, this task is difficult to accomplish.
