RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev: Putin’s successor or financial fraudster?

The official Kirill Dmitriev, largely unknown to the general public, emerged as a key figure, covertly overseeing state funds.

Thanks to publications from various sources this week, Russians learned that the country has an analogue of the historical figure Grigoriy Rasputin, known for his closeness to the royal family. It turned out to be Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), married to Nadezhda Popova, a business partner of Ekaterina Tikhonova, Vladimir Putin’s daughter.

The fund officially deals with the reallocation of Russian money, investing it in various projects, including abroad, which is why the RDIF supervisory board includes such trusted Putin personnel as former head of the Presidential Administration Sergey Ivanov, former first deputy prime minister and now Minister of Defence Andrey Belousov, Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. Compared to them, Kirill Dmitriev is insignificant.

Our editorial team decided to conduct its own investigation into the investment activities of Kirill Dmitriev, who may well be an American spy since he was born in Kyiv and went to study in the USA at the age of 14. There are no guarantees that Dmitriev was not recruited there and then sent back to Russia to undermine its greatness.

Kirill Dmitriev became the head of RDIF in 2011 and was reappointed to the position by Vladimir Putin in 2022 for another 5 years. Dmitriev manages JSC "UK RDIF," which in 2023 received revenue of 2.6 billion rubles and a profit of 458 million rubles. It manages JSC "RVC" (Russian Venture Company), which has not published financial statements since 2021. At that time, with a revenue of 5.4 billion rubles, the company incurred a loss of 317 million rubles.

In 2024, the structures of JSC "RVC" companies "Infrafund RVC" and "Biofund RVC" were transferred to other owners. The founder of the latter became LLC "White New Garden," registered in Serbia, a friendly country to Russia. It is there that RDIF money could flow to circumvent sanctions.

On February 28, 2022, almost immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, JSC "UK RDIF" ceased to own its "subsidiaries" through which it conducted business. All companies had one name and differed only in numbers.

Since 2021, the financial statements of these companies have not been published in open sources. However, through the supposedly former structures of JSC "UK RDIF," one can find in which projects the fund "cut" state money. For example, LLC "PPIT-12," engaged in the production of pharmaceuticals and materials used in medicine and veterinary, has 12 subsidiary structures. A shareholder of one of them, LLC "Gazpromneft-Vostok," is Mubadala Energy (Tomsk) LLC, registered in the UAE.

In another "subsidiary" of "PPIT-12," the company LLC "Svyaz VSD," 25% belongs to

TALOS FUND I LP from the UAE. In LLC "TCC", a partner of LLC "PPIT-12" is Ayyar International Investments Company from Saudi Arabia. This structure is a shareholder of 7 companies in Russia, from which it withdraws money with the help of RDIF.

LLC "PPIT-1" is a co-founder in LLC "YuVM," engaged in the construction of bridges and tunnels. It is backed by JSC "DSK Avtoban," with a revenue of 160 billion rubles in 2023 and a profit of 5.5 billion rubles, which effectively sponsors RDIF. And money from it can be withdrawn through another "subsidiary" of LLC "PPIT-1" - LLC "NSC," engaged in computer manufacturing. A partner in this company with 0 employees is JSC "Special Technologies," previously owned by its CEO Rostislav Darvay.

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Partners of LLC "PPIT-1" in LLC "NGBP" are the already mentioned Ayyar International Investments Company and the Dutch companies "Co-Investment Partnership 1 LP" and "Co-Investment Partnership 111 CV."

LLC "PPIT-13" together with Ayyar International Investments Company and "Thirty Seventh Investment Company LLC" from the UAE, owns LLC "PLT," operating on the real estate market. The founders’ shares are pledged to the state Promsvyazbank.

Our investigation revealed only part of the corruption iceberg of Kirill Dmitriev and his RDIF, created to withdraw money from Russian assets. Last year, Dmitriev was not only in the spotlight during a meeting with Vladimir Putin. RDIF was involved in a scandal with the issue of additional shares of the company "Kama," developing the electric car "Atom," which is unlikely to become a competitor to Chinese analogues.

In the Moscow region in 2024, they refused to build toll overpasses over the railway. One of the participants in the project was RDIF. Last summer, LLC "Rubicon," building a bridge over the Amur, changed its shareholders, one of whom was Dmitriev’s fund. The scandalous official fully proved his inability as an investor of state money. However, he probably does a good job of "laundering" it through foreign companies.

After our investigation, they have every chance of falling under Western sanctions, and Kirill Dmitriev could be permanently excluded from the list of Vladimir Putin’s successors.