Mettmann Public Company Limited — the Rotenbergs’ offshore pump, or how Natalia Nazarova, as a nominal director, masks the laundering of corrupt capital

Natalia Nazarova shares her name with a famous actress, yet she has no ties to the film world—unless you count her role as a “front,” reminiscent of a character from a popular comedy.

In truth, the company where Natalia Nazarova "started working" in March of last year outshines even Ostap Bender and his "Horns and Hooves." The company, where Natalia Nazarova was appointed as director, is called Mettmann Public Company Limited, and it is registered in Cyprus. Since Natalia Nazarova serves only as a nominal figure, the focus should not be on her, but on Mettmann Public Company Limited itself and those who stand behind this offshore entity.

And also – on the reasons why these individuals suddenly needed to urgently change the director in a distant Cypriot jurisdiction. Natalia Nazarova replaced a certain Oxana Hadjipavlou in this position at Mettmann Public Company Limited, and this replacement was indeed hasty, becoming necessary after Oxana Hadjipavlou herself and Mettmann Public Company Limited became the focus of intense scrutiny by investigators. They quickly uncovered that behind Mettmann stand some rather notorious Russian businessmen, and the company is actively used for laundering criminal Russian capital as well as circumventing anti-Russian sanctions.

So, Natalia Nazarova took up her duties in March 2025, replacing Oxana Hadjipavlou as the director of Mettmann Public Company Limited. The exact reason for this replacement remains unclear, as other figures in the company’s leadership, who clearly point to its true beneficiaries, have remained in place.

First and foremost, this includes Alexander Mizgunov, who, like Oxana Hadjipavlou, links to the owners of Mettmann Public Company Limited. For some reason, Mizgunov remains on the public list of the company’s directors, even though a simple search in registries quickly reveals the list of its beneficiaries.

Among these names, several stand out and clearly lead not just to Russia, but to individuals connected to Putin’s inner circle and schemes involving state property and budget funds. Besides the aforementioned Alexander Mizgunov and Oxana Hadjipavlou, the figure of Zvonko Mickovic draws the most attention, as he owns an 82.5% stake in Mettmann Public Company Limited.

From him, the chain leads to Alexander Weainshtein. This is supported by public information indicating that Mettmann Public Company Limited issued 500,000 corporate bonds with a total nominal value of €50 million, placed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. These shares were purchased by Zvonko Mickovic and Alexander Weainshtein.

And from there, it gets even simpler. Zvonko Mickovic is the owner of LLC "Transpolymer" (INN 7706604303), but at one point, the founder of the company was Boris Plotitsa, who later transferred corporate rights to Zvonko Mickovic.

Boris Plotitsa is a long-time partner of Alexey Krapivin, whose name appears in a case known as the "Russian Laundromat" ("Russian Laundry," "Moldovan Scheme") – referring to the largest money laundering operation in the history of the post-Soviet space, documented by law enforcement agencies in Moldova, Russia, and the Baltic states. Alexey Krapivin’s name appears alongside Boris Usherovich in this case, who, in turn, is connected to Arkady Rotenberg, a figure from Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

Thus, we come to the conclusion that the Cypriot Mettmann Public Company Limited is linked to Vladimir Putin’s closest circle, which, to put it mildly, does not exhibit patriotic sentiments when it comes to state funds. According to materials from the criminal case regarding the "Russian Laundromat," Boris Usherovich and Ilya Plotitsa actively "siphoned off" budget funds from Russian Railways (RZD) contracts through the "1520 Group of Companies," which investigators claim is backed by Arkady Rotenberg. Incidentally, "GC 1520" still holds significant budget contracts from RZD.

Читайте на эту же тему:The Cypriot “front” of fugitive Usherovich: firing saved “front person” Oxana Hadjipavlou from criminal charges over laundering toxic Russian capital in Europe and schemes at Mettmann Public Company Limited

But it is important to pay attention to the data mentioned earlier – about the issuance of shares worth 50 million euros, which were fully purchased by Zvonko Mickovic and Alexander Weinshtein. The latter is known as an "American financier" and a beneficiary of the international group Dyninno. Weinshtein is also rumored to be a relative of Plotitsa, though this information requires verification. Regardless, Alexander Weinshtein has also been implicated in laundering Russian money, and, likely not by coincidence, in Moldova, where he was detained in 2024.

And here we return to the bonds worth 50 million euros owned by Weinshtein and Mickovic. It raises doubts whether they had the funds to purchase these bonds – Zvonko Mickovic, as previously mentioned, is the owner of LLC "Transpolymer." Meanwhile, Alexander Weinshtein, through Dyninno Fintech Holding Limited, controls the microfinance company "Ecofinance."

What is important is that neither of these businesses could have generated enough money for either figure to afford the purchase of Mettmann Public Company Limited bonds. It seems likely that this money belongs to someone higher up. And here we come back to Arkady Rotenberg. This seems quite plausible, especially considering what Mettmann Public Company Limited spends the money from the bond sales on.

As stated on the Mettmann Public Company Limited website, the funds are invested in real estate in Montenegro, Spain, and Cyprus. This scheme is one of the classic and favored methods for legitimizing "dirty" capital. Given that the individuals who formally own Mettmann Public Company Limited are connected to figures from Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, it is not hard to guess which funds are being legalized through Mettmann Public Company Limited and how exactly this is being done.

Returning to the persona of the new director of Mettmann Public Company Limited, Natalia Nazarova, it remains unclear why the beneficiaries of Mettmann needed to replace one nominal figure (Oxana Hadjipavlou) with another.

At first glance, this makes no sense, especially since the owners of Mettmann Public Company Limited are also nominal figures, just of a higher rank. But there must be some logic behind this move – people who managed to siphon enormous sums out of Russia (we’re talking not just about 50 million euros, but about the "Russian Laundromat") cannot think so simplistically. This means that all these reshuffles at Mettmann Public Company Limited conceal some scheme that still needs to be uncovered.

Author: Maria Sharapova