Mikhail Khodorkovsky ardently striving to take the place of Russia’s ‘interim’ ruler, openly calling for dismemberment of our country and approving murders of Russia citizens, has been carrying out his pernicious activity exclusively by hands of… women.
Khodorkovsky doesn’t participate personally anywhere; this follows from the analysis of the most active projects of the this ‘regime-fighter’ from London (except the firm ‘Hannover 16, in which, according to the British Registry, he is the sole founder. However, this company fits only too well into the picture of managing of Khodorkovsky’s finance web).
After his personal participation in criminal schemes of Yukos, after sitting in jail for multi-billion tax crimes, this seasoned swindler, actually, has refused from direct management and personal ownership of shares in structures whose activities have anti-state or subversive character for Russia. Of the same manner acted the unforgettable contriver Boris Berezovsky, of the same manner behave themselves thieves in law. Mikhail Khodorkovsky acts similarly.
But, as opposed to criminal bosses, this ‘white and fluffy’ London immigrant is hiding in all his schemes behind women. The man that position himself as a certain leader, has been building his schemes by hands of representatives of the fair sex, putting forward ladies as a shield, arranging them as on the chess board, at the head of his murky firms and foundations.
The website Prigovor.ru: all colors from the card deck of the sharper Khodorkovsky:
Shachkova, Mekhtiyeva, Ordzhonikidze, Paskal, Logan, Taranova, Yarosh, Lapinskine, Pispanen, Kyzyllo…
Let’s have a look at those whom the former oligarch who has already served his term for tax frauds and who has been on the wanted list for ordering Yukos’s murders, has appointed as managers of his business and his anti-Russian projects.
1. NATALYA SHACHKOVA – KHODORKOVSKY’S NOMINAL DIRECTOR
Let’s begin with Natalya Shachkova who once was the assistant of Anton Drel – longstanding ‘armor-bearer’ and lawyer of Khodorkovsky (As they say, ten women and one Drel, regretfully…)
According to the British Registry, Natalya Shachkova is director of six firms (’Analitika One Limited’, MBK Productions Limited’. Hanover 16 Limited’, Human Rights Project Limited’, etc). Apart from that, Shachkova wasdirector and secretary in another eighteen companies of different rates. This woman has manifested herself as master of dark financial schemes.
For instance, the company ‘Human Rights Project Management’ ** earlier, from the moment of its creation and till November 2017, had been called more prosaically and understandably – “OR Otkrytaya Rossia – Open Russia) **. The name of the company completely matched with Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s same-name subversive project ‘Open Russia’ **. Under the direction of Shachkova, ‘Otkrytaya Rossia’, based in London, was financing through dummy firms from Estonia and Czech Republic the actions of ‘white ribbon followers’. In 2016, we wrote about it extensively in the investigation entitled ‘The Czech ‘dump’ of Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky’.
From the Czech Registry. Natalya Shachkova, member of the board of the Czech company ‘Free Access One, z.u.’
Shachkova worked rudely and uninhibitedly, Khodorkovsky’s activists were paid in ‘black cash’ (see also the investigation of the web-portal FLB.ru ‘Open Russia showing signs of money laundering’.
From the Estonian Registry. Natalya Shachkova, board’s member of the company ‘MTU Free Access HR’
Another company that Shachkova manages is called ‘MBK Production Limited”. This firm has an intriguing history of metamorphosis for investigative authority. During the investigation, the website Prigovor.ru found out that earlier this company had been referred to as ‘MBK IP UK Limited’, it was a first-rate fraudulent company and it was up to the waist engaged in ‘black financing’ of ‘Open Russia’s branches (see the article ‘London tail of ‘OR’). After exposure, Khodorkovsky and Natalya Shachkova tried to hide the firm and banally renamed it as ‘MBK Productions Limited’ (see also the article ‘Khodorkovsky has hidden his London firm in a new place’). But they failed to cover up their dirty financial tracks.
Yet, the greatest ‘feat’ of Shachkova is giving a disguised bribe in the European Commission, highest executive body of the European Union. This lobbyist operation Natalya Shachkova pulled off with Kamilla Mekhtiyeva, another Fury of Khodorkovsky.
2. KAMILLA MEKHTIYEVA – ‘YOU CAN’T GET BLOOD OF A STONE’
Do you remember the longstanding litigation worth 50 billion dollars Yukos vs. Russia in The Hague? In November 2021, the website Prigovor.ru published the investigation called ‘Open Russia’ paid 8 million euros for acquaintance with a counsel of the Appeal Court in The Hague’. In fact, Shachkova and Mekhtiyeva, being officially registered lobbyists of the European Commission, were making moves to the head of the Commission first deputy Ben Smulders, who, at the same time, was adviser of a judge of The Hague Court of Appeal (civil and commercial chamber), and the court at that time was preparing to hear the scandalous Yukos case. It’s important to point out that Kamilla Mechtiyeva was one of the lawyers of the former Yukos shareholders in this process.
Information on the website of the European Commission on representatives of ‘Human Rights Project Management’, former ‘Open Russia’**, Natalya Shachkova and Kamilla Mekhtiyeva
The Lobbyists of Khodorkovsky met with Smulders’ assistant Alice Richard. They met under a labored pretext – to discuss the organization of the EU-Russia alternative Summit in November’.
Yet this forum never took place, neither in November, nor later, but, at the beginning of 2016, this Khodorkovsky’s firm officially transferred 7 million 963 thousand 657 euros to the account of the European Commission.
You can’t draw blood from a stone. Not yet… See the report of the firm ‘Human Rights Project Management’ (former ‘Open Russia’) on the website LobbyFacts.eu
In August 2016, lawyers of Yukos former shareholders went to The Hague Court of Appeal. Just to the court where worked as counsel the attorney Ben Smulders. What a coincidence, and, ultimately, this Court of Appeal rejected the arguments of Russian representatives, and, on February 18, 2020, the Court ruled to uphold the decision of the Court of Arbitration in The Hague with regard to payment of 50 billion dollars, i.e. it took decision to the benefit of swindlers from Yukos! (In November 2021, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands revoked this suspiciously corrupt decision. As of today, the case over 50 billion dollars is on a new round of proceedings).
In her resume, Kamilla calls herself ‘Doctor of Law, attorney of the “Paris lawyers collegium’. But, as you can see, this attorney is dealing with cases that are hardly pleasing to God.
In this connection, Kamilla is remembered for being the founder of a British company from the network of Mikhail Khodorkovsky – ‘Corbiere Private Office Limited’. At one time, one of our colleagues, the well-known lawyer Ilya Remeslo traced the participation of this firm in shadow financing of anti-Russian projects directed at destabilization of the internal political situation in Russia (see the article ‘Money for revolution: who is organized the offshore financing of Khodorkovsky’s ‘Open Russia’).
3. MARIA ORDZHONIKIDZE – MASTER OF INTELLIGENCE
Maria Ordzhonikidze is just another on duty founder of dump firms and foundations in service of Khodorkovsky. She started her career as head of the press-center of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, narrating about innocence of these oil swindlers. Then Maria moved to London following her pardoned boss. There she ramped up her skills – she completed training courses of the Brunel University London and received a master degree in the field of intelligence and security. This training allowed her to become a member of the consultative board of the British analytical organization “The Foreign Policy Center’ which is overseen by active officers of the British intelligence (we wrote about it in the investigation ‘Real history of renaming the Bayswater Street in London into Kyiv Road’).
It’s this secret press-lady that Khodorkovsky entrusted with becoming the founder and director of ‘Justice for Journalists Foundation’. There is also a school of journalism at the foundation with the purpose to grow a new generation of Russophobes.
The foundation was created on the last day of February, 2019. But in three years, strange transformation started to happen with it. In 2022, Maria Ordzhonikidze, at the behest of Khodorkovsky, created a new company with the same name ‘Justice for Journalists Foundation’, and the previous company was renamed into ‘JFJ Two’, which means that now a quite different legal entity exists under the old name.
Earlier the company ‘Justice for Journalists’ which were actively working for three years in the field of anti-Russian special operations was registered in the Registry with No 11851418 in house 1-4 on Argyll Street, but, after certain manipulations, a ‘new’ company ‘Justice for Journalists Foundation’ was born with the new registry No 13882886 at the address 16 Great Queen Street. So, the whole dirty background of the foundation was buried in the company called ‘JFJ Two’, we wrote in the investigation ‘Khodorkovsky has washed clean his ‘Justice for Journalists Foundation’.
End result: all dirty financial affairs of Khodorkovsky’s foundation are now buried under the signboard ‘JFJ Two’. And ‘Justice for Journalists Foundation’ is clean and transparent as the spectacles of the oil swindler Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky
To better understand, we would like to specify what is, actually, ‘Justice for Journalists Foundation’ according to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Masha Ordzhonikidze – it is when one of members of supervisory board happens to be the ordering customer of Yukos murders Leonid Nevzlin who was sentenced in Russia to life imprisonment in absentia, and simultaneously in the same board is present Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who is ashamed for Russia, but he is not ashamed to be in the same company with the convicted swindler Khodorkovsky and murderer Nevzlin from the wanted list.
By the way, on June 12, 2023, Mikhail Khodorkovsky decided to definitely ‘bury’ his hidden in a different place organization ‘Justice for Journalists’ – an application was filed with the British Registry ‘On deregistration of the company’.
According to the data of the British Registry, during the whole period of its existence, the company presented its reports only in 2020 and 2021. And then tricks began with renaming and postponement of the terms of reports which nobody saw in the end. And at the moment of filing the application on deregistration the company also is itemized as debtor with regards to presenting financial documents.
4. OKSANA PASKAL – FRENCH DUMMY ENTITIES
While Maria Ordzhonikidze is dealing with murky financial schemes and training of ‘tamed’ journalists, Oksana Paskal is responsible in Khodorkovsky’s entourage for ‘the most important art form’ – for cinema. In the company ‘MBK Production Limited’ Paskal heads producers’ branch.
As of today, the company cannot brag of considerable results from investments in big Hollywood movies, on the other hand, two documentaries were made - ‘Merkel’ (in order to create a lobbyist contact with the former German Chancellor, as well as Russophobe documentary ‘Anastasia’ (about an activist from the town Rostov and ‘victim of the regime’ who had worked for Khodorkovsky).
On the whole, Oksana Paskal has a considerable experience in managing structures close to criminal circles. In the days of old, in 1990s, this lady worked as manager in an outlet of the bank ‘Menatep’ on Cyprus belonging to Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Then, having immigrated to London, Paskal managed one of Estonian shell firms together with beforementioned Natalya Shachkova.
Apart from that, Oksana Paskal headed the French companies Open Press and European Choice. Activity of these entities was acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation by the Office of the Prosecutor General - ‘European choice’ in June 2021, and ‘Open Pres’ in November 2022. After that, both of these companies were included by the Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation into ‘the list of foreign and nongovernmental organizations whose activities have been acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation’.
About the participation of these ‘French’ companies in financing of anti-Russian forces wrote our colleagues from RT in a piece ‘For Khodorkovsky – a used material’.
5. MARIA LOGAN. CLEANS UP KHODORKOVSKY’S MESS
Maria Logan, has repeatedly appeared on our radar, her full name is Maria Petina Logan. She was born in April 1974, has American citizenship and a status of tax resident in the United Kingdom; as a lawyer she has been working for Khodorkovsky and has been participating in his projects for 20 years
At the instruction of her boss, the lawyer Maria Logan has also been dealing with movies. She is one of directors of the film company ‘Rugforce Films Limited’ which was founded in 2021 by the famous British director of documentary films Christopher Clarke Hird. Last year, Khodorkovsky poured in this film company 1 171 742 pounds. It is clear why he needed Hird, according to his views, this director of documentaries is a hundred percent Russophobe. (See also the article ‘Bucha-Film’. Mikhail Khodorkovsky has started to create his own cinema company’).
Still, movies are for Maria Logan, a lawyer with 20 experience, are a secondary field of activity. Like her colleagues Shachkova and Ordzhonikidze, she is a specialist in covering up of dirty financial traces. She cleans up for Khodorkovsky.
One of fresh examples – late March, Maria pulled off the renaming of ‘Future of Russia Foundation’, and now this is an open public company with limited liability ‘New Generation Europe Foundation’. Moreover, it’s already a second renaming, and we would like to remind our readers that, in 2004, this offspring of Khodorkovsky was called ‘Open Russia Foundation (company No 4529663).
Why were needed such antics? It’s quite simple, they have been trying to cut off tails, to dock, and in June 2021, ‘Future of Russia Foundation’ was inserted in the List of foreign and non-governmental organizations whose activities have been acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation with No 39.
6. JULIA TARANOVA, A GRANT-EATER.
Julia Taranova has an interesting career progress. First, she was a rank-and-file grant-eater around Khodorkovsky. Julia headed “laboratory of Social Sciences’, which, in 2021, was recognized as a foreign agent. Julia’s theoretical speculations were financed by one of the foundations under control of Khodorkovsky, namely by ‘Oxford Russia Fund’ ** whose activities were also acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of Russia. According to the report, ‘Laboratory of Social Sciences’ of Julia Taranova, before its closure in 2021, received financing to the amount of 293 260 pounds.
After this failure, Julia Taranova received an invitation from Khodorkovsky to move to London and to work there. This grant-eater received a resonant position – director for investigations in the company ‘Human Rights Project Management’ (former ‘Open Russia or ‘Otkrytaya Rossia’) **. The company is an ‘honored’ one - from November 2017, it has been itemized with No 9 in the list of foreign organizations whose activities were acknowledged by the Justice Ministry of Russia as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation.
7. JULIA YAROSH – CHIEF EDITOR OF CLOSED MEDIA OUTLETS
In November 2017, Mikhail Khodorkovsky decided to unite subordinated to him half dead projects ‘Infometr’, ‘OpenEconomy’, ‘Culttriger’ and ‘WTFuture’ into one – ‘Open Media’. He appointed a woman to the position of chief editor. He chose Julia Yarosh * who, before leaving to marginal publications of Khodorkovsky, had worked as deputy chief editor of RBK, had also worked in the daily newspaper ‘Kommersant’ and in the agency ‘Prime’.
The founder of ‘Open Media’ was an Estonian legal entity ‘Open Press OU’. A firm that was registered by the British company ‘Hanover 16 Limited’ which has been created personally by Khodorkovsky. In 2020, journalists of RT managed to dig out a financing scheme of ‘independent’ “Open Media’. They showed how it had been created, how in had functioned and how a just another Khodorkovsky’s Ponzi scheme had fallen into a state of bankruptcy, not a financial one, but a informational one under the leadership of its chief editor Julia Yarosh * and its director – the ubiquitous Natalya Shachkova.
By the way, Yarosh, an economist by training, up until 2002 worked in auditing and consulting group BDO ‘Unikon’. So, she easily got a place in Khodorkovsky’s companies.
8. IRENE LAPINSKINE – DIRECTOR OF LITHUANIAN SHELL ENTITIES
After the Russian monitoring agency Roskomnadzor, in 2021, blocked the website of ‘Open Media’, the project moved to Lithuania. There Irene Lapinskine is dealing with financial and household matters of Khodorkovsky.
‘Until recently, Irene was not observed in the field of politics. She is itemized as director of several OJSCs, with one of those providing consultative services, the second preparing financial reports for small firms and dealing with tax agencies, she also helps to register different companies and foundations. But most of all, as report our Lithuanian colleagues, she is involved in sauces of the Lithuanian company ‘Buga LT’: adjika sauce, sweet chili, sauces ‘Chutney’ from onion and pomegranate seeds, from mango and tropical’, wrote the website Prigovor.ru in the investigation ‘Lithuanian family contract ‘Future of Russia’.
But at this particular moment they paid attention to her and it turned out that this ‘saleswoman of sauces’ is a real match for the sagacious London ladies Shachkova, Ordzhonikidza and Logan.
Lapinskine registered for Khodorkovsky in Lithuania two firms at once. One is for window-dressing, white a fluffy – OJSC ‘Future Russia Foundation, VsL’, a complete namesake of the British foundation (renamed, as of today). And the second company – the entity with limited liability ‘Future Russia, UAB’ Irene organized quietly.
Thus, in Lithuania Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s favorite scheme was created. A ‘show-case’ foundation will always be for controlling agencies clean and transparent, and through a quiet and imperceptible little firm ‘Future Russia, UAB’ all major financial assets are being pumped for struggle against Russian on the Lithuanian field.
Lithuanian ‘laundry’ of Irene Lapinskine registed at the same address with the firm selling sauces.
9. OLGA PISPANEN. KHODORKOVSKY’S ‘DONATION’
Mikhail Khodorkovsky uses ladies in more ticklish questions as well. As early as in 2014, hackers broke into mail accounts of his secretary – Olga Pispanen and put online her correspondence with the author Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The question was about meetings of the author with Khodorkovsky and about payments by him for certain services, and, according to the context, these were questions pertaining to white-washing of reputation of the fugitive oligarch.
But these ladies discussed also more concrete matters – for instance, how to avoid paying taxes by presenting transactions as charity: ‘Dear Olya! Here are requisite details. PEN has no foreign currency account yet. Donations are better, as in such a case, they will not be able to gnaw out any taxes’. As the saying goes, who keeps company with the wolf, will learn how to howl. The main part of the correspondence is put on the portal ‘Perebezhchik’ (Defector) in apiece ‘How Khodorkovsky finances Ulitskaya’.
The letter of Lyudmila Ulitskaya to Olga Pispanen
10. VERONIKA KUTSYLLO. FIRING GROUND OF DUMP MEDIA
Veronika Kutsyllo is a regrettable example of how a journalist has sold her pen to the service of a marginal politician. In 1990s Veronika shone out among parliament correspondents, she was the head of the department ‘Politics’ in the newspaper ‘Kommersant’. She published a book ‘Notes form the Russian White House’ devoted to tragical events of the Autumn of the year 1993. And now her name is mentioned only as ‘a representative of the old-time servant of oligarchs. So, it wasn’t an accident that she ended up in the arms of Khodorkovsky. In 2017, Kutsyllo became chief editor of ‘MBK media’. The swing-up was impressive. Regional editorial offices were created, namely ‘North-West MBK media’, Volga…’, ‘South…’, ‘Urals…’, ‘Siberia MBK Media’. They unfolded an anti-Russian propaganda. But the life-time of this project was not long. Apart from claims from the part of the state for placing illegal information, the editorial board was shattered by scandals connected with sexual harassments among staff members. So, in 2021, Khodorkovsky officially announced the closing of the project under a spacious excuse – security concerns.
Now Veronika Kutsyllo is seducing young minds in the journalistic school ‘Firing Ground of Media’ which exists with support of the same Khodorkovsky. And practical training her students receive in the openly anti-Russian telegram channels ‘ChTD’ and ‘We Can Explain’.
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Such is this ladies’ spread. In old times, in 1990s, when Mikhail Khodorkovsky was at the zenith of his powers, financial assets, and was considered an omnipotent oligarch, various slick magazines cajolingly called him the most beautiful, the most stylish and so on billionaire. Perhaps, by gathering only women around himself this former billionaire wants to bring back the feeling of brilliance and his own grandeur?
It’s another matter that this already corpulent, well on in life and bold-headed man treats them very practical, as nominal figureheads ready to go to jail, as, actually, it’s they who will sit, in case anything happens, and not Mikhail Khodorkovsky himself. It’s they who are founders and directors of Khodorkovsky’s two dozen laundries and dumps, while Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky doesn’t sign anything himself. He is hiding himself under women’s skirts.
Author: Alexander Zhelnin
Russian version at: «Десять женщин Ходорковского»
* Mikhail Khodorkovsky – 20.05.2022 was included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 389;
* Yarosh Julia – 15.07.2021 was included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 232;
* Kutsyllo Veronika – 14.10.2022 was included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 448;
** Open Russia (Otkrytaya Rossia), Great Britain (from 08.11. 2017 Human Rights Project Management) – included with No 9 in the List of foreign and non-governmental organizations whose activities are acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation, No 557-r from 27.04.2017;
** ‘European Choice’, France – 30.06. 2021 included in the List of foreign and international non-governmental organizations whose activities are acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation with No 36;
** Khodorkovsky Foundation, Great Britain – 30.06.2021 included with No 37 in the List of foreign and international organizations whose activities are acknowledge as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation;
** Oxford Russia Fund, Great Britain – 30.06.2021 included with No 38 in the List of foreign and international organizations whose activities are acknowledge as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation;
** Future of Russia Foundation, Great Britain – 30.06.2021 included with No 39 in the List of foreign and international non-governmental organizations whose activities are acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation;
** Open Press, French Republic – included with No 68 in the List of foreign and international non-governmental organizations whose activities are acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation.
