Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (Russian: Евге́ний Ви́кторович Приго́жин; born 1 June 1961) is a Russian businessman[1] with close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.[2] Prigozhin was called "Putin’s chef" in an Associated Press article because of Prigozhin's restaurants and catering businesses that hosted dinners which Vladimir Putin attended with foreign dignitaries.[3] Prigozhin controls "a network of companies," including three accused of interference in the 2016 United States elections.[4] Prigozhin is also accused of attempting to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.[5] Prigozhin, his companies and associates face economic sanctions and criminal charges in the United States.[5]
Yevgeny Prigozhin | |
---|---|
Prigozhin at his Concord food catering factory in 2010 | |
Born | Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin 1 June 1961 Leningrad, Soviet Union |
Nationality | Russian |
Occupation | Businessman |
According to an investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider and Der Spiegel Prigozhin's operations "are tightly integrated with Russia’s Defense Ministry and its intelligence arm, the GRU."[6]
Early life
Prigozhin was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on 1 June 1961, to Violetta Prigozhina (Russian: Виолетта Пригожина).[7][8] He graduated from an athletics boarding school in 1977 and was engaged in cross-country skiing.[7] His father and stepfather were of Russian-Jewish descent, while his mother is of ethnic Russian descent.[9]
On 29 November 1979, Prigozhin was given a suspended sentence for stealing (in Leningrad). In 1981 he was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment under articles of robbery, fraud, and involving teenagers in prostitution. Prigozhin spent nine years in prison before he was released.[10]
Casino, restaurant and catering career
In 1990, after his release, he and his stepfather set up a network to sell hot dogs.[11] Soon, according to a New York Times interview with him, "the rubles were piling up faster than his mother could count them."[12] He also became a 15% stakeholder and manager of a "Contrast," started by Boris Spektor (Russian: Борис Спектор), a classmate from his boarding school, which was the first grocery store chain in Saint Petersburg. Also, Prigozhine as CEO and Spektor and Igor Gorbenko (Russian: Игорь Горбенко) founded the first casinos in St Petersburg under Spectrum CJSC (Russian: ЗАО «Спектр»).[13][14][lower-alpha 1] They founded Viking CJSC (Russian: ЗАО «Викинг»), too.[13] In 1995, when revenues began to fall, Prigozhin persuaded a director at Contrast, Kiril Ziminov, to open a restaurant with him. The two men opened the "Old Customs House" (Russian: Старая Таможня) in Saint Petersburg. In 1997, inspired by waterfront restaurants on the Seine in Paris, Prigozhin and Ziminov spent $400,000 remodeling a rusting boat on the Vyatka River and started the floating restaurant called New Island, which became one of the most fashionable dining spots in Saint Petersburg.[11][12] He said his patrons "wanted to see something new in their lives and were tired of just eating cutlets with vodka." In 2001, Prigozhin personally served food to Vladimir Putin and French president Jacques Chirac when they dined at "New Island". He also hosted US President George W. Bush in 2002. In 2003, Putin celebrated his birthday at New Island.[12] By 2003, Prigozhin had left his business partners, established his own independent restaurants, and had become a confidante of Putin, apparently free to engage in illicit activities without fear of prosecution.[25]
His company, Concord Catering, got hundreds of millions in government contracts for feeding school children and government workers.[25] In 2012 he got a contract to supply meals to the Russian military worth $1.2 billion over one year. Some of the profits from this contract are alleged to have been used to start and fund the Internet Research Agency.[26]
In 2012 he moved his family into a St. Petersburg compound with a basketball court and a helicopter pad. He has a private jet and a 115-foot yacht.[25]
The Anti-Corruption Foundation accused Prigozhin of corrupt business practices. They estimated his illegal wealth to be worth more than one billion rubles.[27] Anti-Corruption Foundation founder Alexei Navalny alleged that Prigozhin was linked to a company called Moskovsky Shkolnik (Moscow schoolboy) that had supplied poor quality food to Moscow schools which had caused a dysentery outbreak.[28][29]
According to Novaya Gazeta in October 2018, Evgeny Arkadievich Gulyaev (Russian: Евгений Аркадьевич Гуляев) is the head of the security service for Prigozhin.[30]
On December 11, 2019, which is "Heroes Day" or "Heroes of the Fatherland Day", Msk LLC (Russian: ООО "Мск") which has the same phone number as Concord Catering, was paid 4.1 million rubles for a Kremlin banquet.[31] In 2018, Msk LLC was paid only 2.5 million rubles from the Presidential Administration for the exact same banquet at the Kremlin.[31]
Wagner Group
Prigozhin has been linked to a mercenary group known as the Wagner Group which has been involved in various actions as a private military contractor. On 7 February 2018, Wagner attacked US backed Kurdish forces in Syria in an attempt to take an oil field. Wagner and their allies suffered dozens of casualties when the US responded with airpower.[32]
The Washington Post reported Prigozhin was in close contact with Russian and Syrian military officials before the February 7 action.[33] The connections between Prigozhin and Wagner have been the subject of press coverage in Russia and the United States. Wagner is led by Dmitry Utkin, who was once head of security for Prigozhin. A person by the name of Dmitry Utkin was also listed as Director General of Prigozhin's Concord Management. Since 2011, Prigozhin's mother Violetta Prigozhina has been the owner of Concord.[8] Concord and Prigozhin denied any connection to Wagner,[1] however in November 2016 the company confirmed to Russian media that the same Dmitry Utkin leading the Wagner Group was now in charge of Prigozhin's food businesses.[34] Wagner has also been reported to be fighting in eastern Ukraine with pro-Russia forces.[34]
On 30 July 2018, three Russian journalists working for a news organization often critical of the Russian government were murdered in the Central African Republic, where they had been attempting to investigate the activities of the Wagner Group in that country. The Russian government had begun a collaboration with the president of the Central African Republic in October 2017. In its response to the killings, Russia's foreign ministry stressed that the dead journalists had been traveling without official accreditation.[35]
Internet Research Agency
Prigozhin is alleged to have financed and directed[36] a network of companies including a company called the Internet Research Agency Ltd. (Russian: ООО «Агентство интернет-исследований»),[37] Concord Management and Consulting Company and one other related company.[1] The three companies are accused of Internet trolling and attempting to influence the 2016 US presidential elections and other activity to influence political events outside Russia.
Russian journalist Andrey Soshnikov reported that Alexey Soskovets, who had participated in Russian youth political community, was directly connected to the offices of Internet Research in Olgino. His company, North-Western Service Agency, won 17 or 18 (according to different sources) contracts for organizing celebrations, forums and sport competitions for authorities of Saint Petersburg. The agency was the only participant in half of those bids. In the summer of 2013 the agency won a tender for providing freight services for participants of Seliger camp.[38]
Despite links to Alexei Soskovets, Nadejda Orlova, deputy head of the Committee for Youth Policy in Saint Petersburg, disputed connection between her institution and the trolling offices.
Spin offs
Campaigns against opposition in 2013 involved Dmitry Bykov and the then head of RIA Novosti, Svetlana Mironyuk, while a homepage claiming to fight fake news (Gazeta O Gazetah) was used to spread fake news.[39]
US Treasury Department sanctions
On 20 December 2016, the US Treasury Department designated Prigozhin pursuant to E.O.13661 for sanctions for providing support to senior officials of the Russian Federation.[40][41][42]
In June 2017 US sanctions were imposed on one of Prigozhin's companies, Concord Management and Consulting, in connection with the war in Eastern Ukraine.[34][43][44]
On 28 January 2018, the US Treasury Department also designated Evro Polis Ltd for sanctions. Evro Polis is a Russian company that has contracted with the Government of Syria to protect Syrian oil fields in exchange for a 25 percent share in oil and gas production from the fields. The company was designated for being owned or controlled by Yevgeniy Prigozhin. The sanctions require that any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked. Additionally, transactions by U.S. persons involving these persons (including companies) are generally prohibited.[45][46]
In September 2019, three more Prigozhin companies (Autolex Transport, Beratex Group and Linburg Industries) were sanctioned in connection with the Russian interference in the 2016 United States election.[47][lower-alpha 2]
US criminal charges
Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
On 16 February 2018, Prigozhin, the Internet Research Agency, Concord Management, another related company, and other connected Russian individuals were indicted by a U.S. grand jury. He was charged with funding and organizing operations for the purpose of interference with the U.S. political and electoral processes, including the 2016 presidential election, and other crimes including identity theft.[51]
Africa interests
During 2018 through both 100 to 200 political consultants and Prigozhin's mercenaries in his Wagner Group, Prigozhin established numerous interests in Africa especially in Madagascar and Central Africa Republic (CAR) along with other countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Senegal, Rwanda, Sudan, Libya, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Nigeria, Chad, South Sudan, and South Africa.[52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Pyotr Bychkov (Russian: Петр Александрович Бычков) is responsible for coordinating the "Africa expansion".[59][60][lower-alpha 3]
Central African Republic
In the Central African Republic (CAR) southwest prefecture of Lobaye and west of Bangui, the Prigozhin associated company Lobaye Invest has been engaged in the mining of diamonds, gold,[lower-alpha 4] and other minerals starting in early 2018.[63][64][lower-alpha 5] After traveling to Russia in the fall of 2017 to meet with Sergey Lavrov in Sochi and in June 2018 to meet with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Faustin-Archange Touadera, the President of the Central African Republic, under advice from his national security advisor Valery Zakharov (Russian: Валерий Захаров)[lower-alpha 6] increased the Russian presence in CAR by allowing 5 Russian military advisors and 170 Russian contractors to work starting in January 2018 near Bobangui at Berengo, which is the former palace of Jean-Bédel Bokassa and is 60 kilometers southwest of Bangui.[64][68][69][70][lower-alpha 7] Since December 2017, the Kimberley Process allowed diamonds to be mined in the southwest of CAR.[71] Under managing director Evgeny Khodotov (Russian: Евгений Ходотов)[lower-alpha 8] who is associated with security for Touadera through the firm Sewa Security Service, Lobaye Invest was founded through M-Invest by Dmitry Syty (Russian: Дмитрий Сытый) and is a subsidiary of M-Finance which were founded by Prigozhin.[58][64][67][72] On the night of 31 July 2018, three Russian journalists, Alexander Rastorguev (Russian: Александр Расторгуев), Orhan Dzhemal (Russian: Орхан Джемаль), and Kirill Radchenko (Russian: Кирилл Радченко), who were sent by the Mikhail Khodorkovsky-sponsored Investigation Management Center (SDG) (Russian: Центр управления расследованиями (ЦУР)), were killed north of Sibut while they were investigating the operations of Lobaye Invest and Russians interests in the east of CAR at the Ndassima gold field[lower-alpha 9] for an upcoming film.[35][58][66][67][lower-alpha 10] On 15 April 2019, Putin sent 30 Russian troops as part of a UN mission in CAR to support Lobaye Invest interests.[65]
Financial support for Maria Butina in 2019
During May 2019, Maria Butina appealed for help in paying her attorney fees.[75] In February 2019 Valery Butin (Russian: Валерий Бутин), Masha's father, told Izvestia that she owed her U.S. attorneys 40 million rubles ($659,000).[76][77] Through Prigozhin's Fund for the Protection of National Values (Russian: Фонд защиты национальных ценностей) which is managed by Petr Bychkov, 5 million rubles were donated to Maria Butina's defense attorney costs.[59] She had not been receiving any funds for her defense attorneys fees from Igor Levitin through Konstantin Nikolaev.[78]
Financial support for Saif Gaddafi
On March 20, 2020, it was revealed that Prigozhin had financially assisted Saif Qaddafi, son of the late overthrown Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in a bid to win the Libyan Presidency in 2019.[79]
Personal life and family
Prigozhin is married to a pharmacist (Russian: химик-фармацевт) Lyubov Valentinovna Prigozhina (Russian: Любовь Валентиновна Пригожина).[80] She owns a network of boutique stores known as the Chocolate Museum (Russian: «Музей шоколада») in Saint Petersburg. In 2012, she started her first "luxury dayspa", the Crystal Spa & Lounge which won a third place award in 2013 for the Perfect Urban Day Spa.[80][81] Her Crystal Spa & Lounge, located along Zhukovsky Street (Russian: Улица Жуковского) in Saint Petersburg, received design support from Valery Uvarov (Russian: Валерий Уваров).[82] She owns a wellness center in the Leningrad region and a boutique hotel called the Crystal Spa & Residence which won the Perfect Spa Project award in 2013.[80][81] She owns the New Technologies SPA LLC (Russian: ООО «Новые технологии СПА») which is located at plot 1, Granichnaya street (Russian: улица Граничная, участок 1) in Lakhta Park (Russian: Лахтa Парк), Sestroretsk, Kurortny District, Saint Petersburg,[lower-alpha 11][84][85] Also, she is the legal owner of Agat (Russian: Агат).[86]
They have a daughter Polina.[49]
His mother, Violetta Prigozhina (Russian: Виолетта Пригожина) who is a former teacher and doctor, is the legal owner of Concord Management and Consulting LLC (Russian: ООО "Конкорд менеджмент и консалтинг") since 2011, Etalon LLC (Russian: ООО "Эталон") since 2010, and Credo LLC (Russian: ООО "Кредо") since 2011.[87] The Prigozhin's "Bay of Islands" project (Russian: "Залив островов") near Lakhta is being developed by Singer-Development LLC (Russian: ООО "Зингер-Девелопмент") which, in January 2018, has the same phone number as Violetta Prigozhina's Etalon LLC.[87]
See also
Notes
- Beginning in 1991, Vladimir Putin was St Petersburg's chairman of the supervisory board for casinos and gambling (Russian: Председатель наблюдательного совета по казино и азартным играм) and, in 1993, began issuing gambling licenses in which shares were gained by the city of St Petersburg in the company Neva Chance (Russian: «Нева-Шанс») which owned the first St Petersburg casino AOZT Casino (Russian: АОЗТ «Казино») because it had the same address and phone numbers as city hall, but later it became JV Casino Neva (Russian: СП «Казино Нева») and opened on 19 August 1991.[13][15][16][17][18] In 1992 or 1993 it changed its name to Laguna, then in 1997 to Admiral Club or more simply known as Admiral.[17] According to the Yakuza Kinichi Kamiyasu[19] who supplied slot machines with cash prizes to St Petersburg casinos in the 1990s from his Stockholm, Sweden, company Dyna Computer Service AB which was a subsidiary of the Masimichi Iida (Japanese: 飯田正道) (Russian: брата шефа Киничи из Осака Ииды Мисамичи the brother of Chef Kinichi from Osaka, Iida Misamichi) owned Osaka firm, Dyna Company Ltd.,[20] the criminals Gennady Petrov (Russian: Геннадий Петров),[21] Alexander Malyshev (Russian: Александр Малышев),[22] and Sergey Kuzmin (Russian: Сергей Кузьмин) operated the casino through a Vladimir Putin issued license in order to establish JV Petrodin (Russian: СП «Петродин») in 1991.[17] JV Petrodin, which Kamiyasu owned a 35% stake and Gennady Petrov and Sergey Kuzmin owned a 65% stake through their company BXM (Russian: «БХМ»), used the money from the casinos to provide capital for Bank Rossiya.[17][18][23][24]
- As of 15 August 2019, the director of LinBurg Industries is a Latvian Ivo Jutis (Russian: Иво Жутис)[48][49] Two of Prigozhin planes are a Raytheon Hawker 800XP with tail numbers M-VITO, which is owned since 2012 by a Seychelles shell company Beratex Group Limited, and VP-CSP, which registered with the Cayman Islands Civil Aviation Authority and owned since 2017 by a Seychelles shell company called LinBurg Industries.[48][49][50]
- In March 2014, political consultants in Russia formed the Russian Association of Political Contants RAPK (Russian: Российская Ассоциация Политических Консультантов РАПК) which is the first professional association of independent experts in political technology and consulting. It was formed to counter political election fraud and disimformation which occurred during Maidan.[61]
- Purportedly at the Ndassima field in eastern CAR, too.[62]
- Lobaye Invest has several areas for development during a period of three years: Java (385 square km) for gold and possibly diamonds by decree on 2 June 2018 located about 100 km west of Bangui and is not under government control, Pama (3,712 square km) for diamonds, gold, and other elements by resolution on 25 July 2018 located about 12 km west of Bangui and is under the control of Russian contractors, a site (1 square km) for development by decree on 11 March 2019 located at Boda, and four sites (four 1 square km each) for diamonds and gold by decree 4 April 2018 published March 2019 located in the cities and districts of Bangasu, Ouadda, Bria and Sam Wanja.[64][65]
- During the 1990s, Valery Zakharov worked in the external surveillance unit of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region (Russian: ГУВД по Петербургу и Ленобласти) and then in the early 2000s he worked for the North-West Customs Department in a similar posting.[66] He provided extensive consulting to Prigozhin and his companies.[66][67]
- Three Russian journalists, Alexander Rastorguev (Russian: Александр Расторгуев), Orhan Dzhemal (Russian: Орхан Джемаль), and Kirill Radchenko (Russian: Кирилл Радченко), were at Borengo, formerly Bokassa's Palace, on the eve of their own murders. This palace is the base for Wagner associated activities.[64][69]
- Evgeny Khodotov worked in the St. Petersburg RUBOP (Russian: Петербургский РУБОП) before 2008 and worked for the main department of the Russian Ministry of the Interior in the Northwestern Federal District (Russian: Главное управление МВД России по Северо-Западному федеральному округу).[64]
- The Ndassima gold mine is in Ouaka north of Bambari.
- The Dossier Center (Russian: «Досье») concluded that professionals planned and conducted the murders of Rastorguev, Dzhemal, and Radchenko.[73][74]
- This plot was formerly owned by Concord but was granted to Lyubov Prigozhina by the city of Saint Petersburg.[83]
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- "Indictment document". Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- Meyer, Henry; Arkhipov, Ilya; Rahagalala, Aina (20 November 2018). "Putin's Notorious 'Chef' Is Now Meddling Across Africa: The man indicted in the U.S. for interfering in the 2016 election is spreading Russia's reach across the continent". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Шеф и повар. Часть первая. Расследование о том, как Евгений Пригожин возглавил российское наступление в Африке: С 2018 года Россия начала активную экспансию в Африке, помогая странам континента политически, финансово и открыто поддерживая их военной силой. В авангарде этой экспансии оказался "кремлевский повар" Евгений Пригожин, попавший под санкции США за попытку повлиять на выборы американского президента. Однако на продвижение интересов Кремля в Африке тратились не только пригожинские, но и бюджетные деньги. "Проект" рассказывает, как устроена эта кампания, — на примере Мадагаскара, где планы России и Пригожина оказались особенно масштабными, а провалы — красноречивыми" [Chef and cook. Part one. Investigation of how Yevgeny Prigozhin led the Russian offensive in Africa: Since 2018, Russia began an active expansion in Africa, helping the countries of the continent politically, financially and openly supporting them with military force. At the forefront of this expansion was the “Kremlin cook” Yevgeny Prigozhin, who fell under US sanctions for trying to influence the election of the American president. However, not only Prigozhin, but also budget money was spent on promoting the interests of the Kremlin in Africa. The “Project” tells how this campaign is organized, using the example of Madagascar, where the plans of Russia and Prigozhin turned out to be especially large-scale, and the failures eloquent.]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). 13 March 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- Чуракова, Ольга (Churakova, Olga) (20 March 2019). "В странах Африки работают до 200 политтехнологов, связанных с Пригожиным" [In Africa, up to 200 political strategists associated with Prigozhin work]. Дождь (Dozhd) (in Russian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "Уран, алмазы, золото и ваниль. Bloomberg раскрыл географию интересов "кремлевского повара" Пригожина в Африке: 10 стран!" [Uranium, Diamonds, Gold and Vanilla. Bloomberg has revealed the geography of interests of the “Kremlin cook” Prigozhin in Africa: 10 countries!]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 20 November 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- Рождественский, Илья (Rozhdestvensky, Ilya); Рубин (Rubin, Mikhail), Михаил; Баданин, Роман (Badanin, Roman) (11 April 2019). "Шеф и повар. Часть третья. Расследование о том, как Россия вмешивается в выборы в двадцати странах: Документы из офиса работающих на Евгения Пригожина политтехнологов показывают стратегию российского вмешательства в африканскую политику — разжигать антизападные настроения и реанимировать старые территориальные споры. Но пока российской экспансии мешают три проблемы — непрофессионализм, коррупция и пьянство" [Chef and cook. Part three. Investigation of how Russia intervenes in elections in twenty countries: Documents from the office of political strategists working for Yevgeny Prigozhin show the strategy of Russian intervention in African politics - to foment anti-Western sentiments and reanimate old territorial disputes. But while Russian expansion is hindered by three problems - unprofessionalism, corruption and drunkenness.]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ""Проект": связанные с Пригожиным политтехнологи работают в 20 африканских странах" [“Project”: political strategists associated with Prigozhin work in 20 African countries]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 11 April 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Человек Пригожина начал разведку алмазов в районе убийства российских журналистов: Тем временем его жена общается с египетскими богами, очищает ауру и консультируется у уфологов" [Prigozhin’s man began exploration of diamonds in the area of the murder of Russian journalists. Meanwhile, his wife communicates with the Egyptian gods, cleans the aura and consults with ufologists]. «Руспрес» (Ruspres) (in Russian). 24 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Фонд, который СМИ связывают с политтехнологом Пригожина, перечислил Бутиной 5 млн рублей" [The fund, which the media associate with the political strategist Prigozhin, transferred 5 million rubles to Butina]. Znak (in Russian). 29 May 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Бычков Петр Александрович" [Bychkov, Petr Alexandrovich]. Российская Ассоциация Политических Консультантов РАПК (Russian Association of Political Consultants RAPK) (in Russian). 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "В России создана ассоциация политических консультантов. В марте 2014 года в Москве на 1-м Конгрессе российских политических консультантов было объявлено о создании Российской ассоциации политических консультантов. Первым президентом ассоциации абсолютным большинством голосов избран глава агентства «Никколо М» Игорь Минтусов. Исполнительным вице-президентом стал политтехнолог Виталий Сергеев" [An association of political consultants created in Russia. In March 2014, in Moscow, at the 1st Congress of Russian Political Consultants, the creation of the Russian Association of Political Consultants was announced. The head of the Niccolo M agency, Igor Mintusov, was elected the first president of the association by an absolute majority of votes. Vitaly Sergeyev, a political strategist, became Executive Vice President.]. advertology.ru (in Russian). 25 March 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Losh, Jack; Mathews, Owen (9 August 2018). "'Battle for Africa': Russia Pushes Into 'Free Country for the Taking' In Attempt to Rival the West". Newsweek. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ""С русскими все возможно": что пишет пресса ЦАР об убийстве журналистов" [“Everything is possible with the Russians”: what the CAR press writes about the murder of journalists]. BBC (in Russian). 2 August 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Баев, Антон (Bayev, Anton); Маглов, Михаил (Maglov, Mikhail) (31 August 2018). "Контракт от президента: что получила в ЦАР компания, которую связывают с Пригожиным" [Contract from the president: what the company got in the Central African Republic, which is associated with Prigozhin]. The Bell (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Атасунцев, Александр (Atasuntsev, Alexander); Пудовкин, Евгений (Pudovkin, Evgeny) (23 April 2019). "Экс-глава связанной с Пригожиным фирмы получил алмазный контракт в ЦАР: Минфин ЦАР опубликовал контракты с компанией Lobaye Invest на разработку алмазов и золота. Директором фирмы указан Евгений Ходотов, которого СМИ называли выходцем из силовых структур Петербурга и связывали с Евгением Пригожиным" [Ex-head of Prigozhin-related company received a diamond contract in the Central African Republic: The CAR Ministry of Finance has published contracts with the company Lobaye Invest for the development of diamonds and gold. The director of the company is Yevgeny Khodotov, whom the media called a native of the power structures of St. Petersburg and associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin]. RBC (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Романовский, Кирилл (Romanovsky, Kirill); Тарасов, Денис (Tarasov, Denis); Малянов, Владимир (Malyanov, Vladimir); Никитина, Юлия (Nikitina, Julia). "У НОЧИ НЕТ ГЛАЗ: Чего не увидели убитые в Центральной Африке журналисты" [NIGHT HAS NO EYES: What the journalists killed in Central Africa did not see]. Федеральное агентство новостей (РИА «ФАН») (Federal News Agency (RIA FAN)) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020 – via Fontaka.Ru.
- Барабанов, Илья (Barabanov, Ilya); Рейтер, Светлана (Reuter, Svetlana); Сошников, Андрей (Soshnikov, Andrey); Захаров, Андрей (Zakharov, Andrey); Горяшко, Сергей (Goryashko, Sergey) (31 January 2019). "Золото Пригожина. Чем занимались россияне в ЦАР, когда погибли журналисты" [Gold Prigogine. What did the Russians do in the Central African Republic when journalists died]. BBC (in Russian). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- "Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department Artyom Kozhin's answer to a media question on cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Central African Republic". Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации (Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation). 22 March 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Bouessel, Charles; Sari, Emre (4 May 2018). "Pourquoi Vladimir Poutine avance ses pions en Centrafrique" [Why Vladimir Putin advances his pawns in the Central African Republic]. L'Obs (in French). Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Leviev, Ruslan (20 April 2018). Российское присутствие в Центральноафриканской республике [Russian presence in the Central African Republic]. citeam.org (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- Романовский, Кирилл (Romanovsky, Kirill); Тарасов, Денис (Tarasov, Denis); Малянов, Владимир (Malyanov, Vladimir); Никитина, Юлия (Nikitina, Julia). "АЛМАЗЫ НОЧИ: Что забыла в Центральной Африке Lobaye Invest" [DIAMONDS NIGHTS: What I forgot in Central Africa Lobaye Invest]. Федеральное агентство новостей (РИА «ФАН») (Federal New Agency (RIA FAN)) (in Russian). Retrieved 30 January 2020 – via Fontaka.Ru.
- "Moscow sets its sights on the gold and diamonds". Africa Intelligence. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- "Journalistes russes tués en Centrafrique: deux thèses et toujours aucune réponse" [Russian journalists killed in the Central African Republic: two theses and still no answer]. RFI (in French). 22 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- Итоговый доклад Центра «Досье» об обстоятельствах убийства Орхана Джемаля, Александра Расторгуева и Кирилла Радченко в ЦАР [Final report of the Center "Dossier" on the circumstances of the murder of Orkhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguev and Kirill Radchenko in the Central African Republic]. «Досье» (Dossier Center) (in Russian). 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- "Бутина просит помочь ей оплатить услуги адвоката" [Butina asks to help her pay for a lawyer]. Voice of America (VOA) (in Russian). Associated Press. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Butina needs over $650,000 to pay US lawyer's fees". Tass. 4 June 2019.
- "Отрицательный баланс: Бутиной не хватает 40 млн рублей на адвокатов. Защита россиянки может отказаться от нее из-за финансовых проблем" [Negative balance: Butina lacks 40 million rubles for lawyers. Protection of a Russian woman may refuse her because of financial problems]. Izvestia (in Russian). 12 February 2019. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Вместо Левитина Бутину профинансирует Пригожин: Фонд защиты национальных ценностей оторвал от сердца 5 млн рублей из необходимых 50" [Instead of Levitin, Butina will be financed by Prigozhin. The National Values Protection Fund gave 5 million rubles out of the necessary 50]. «Руспрес» (Ruspres) (in Russian). 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "How a Russian Plan to Restore Qaddafi's Regime Backfired". Bloomberg News. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- "Пригожина Любовь" [Progozhina Lyubov]. Spa & Management website (in Russian). 22 September 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Международная Премия "Perfect SPA" - 2013: Подведены итоги и награждены победители Международной Премии "Perfect SPA" - 2013" [International Award “Perfect SPA” - 2013: Summed up and awarded the winners of the International Award “Perfect SPA” - 2013.]. 1nep.ru (in Russian). 2 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- Прогацкая, Татьяна (Progatskaya, Tatyana) (9 February 2017). ""ДП" изучил, кто и сколько зарабатывает на строительстве "энергетических" пирамид. Российский рынок пирамидостроения на пороге триумфа: осенью в Томске откроется крупнейший комплекс за 130 млн рублей, сделанный по чертежам петербургского предпринимателя. Такого наша страна еще не видела. Но отрасль сотрясают скандалы: недавние партнеры и соратники перессорились. Петербург, где в свое время появилась первая "крупномерная" пирамида, теперь оказался на периферии индустрии, и повторить успех супруги Евгения Пригожина некому" ["DP" has studied who and how much makes money on the construction of "energy" pyramids. The Russian pyramid building market is on the verge of triumph: in the fall, the largest complex for 130 million rubles will open in Tomsk, made according to the drawings of a St. Petersburg businessman. Our country has never seen such a thing. But the industry is shaken by scandals: recent partners and associates have quarreled. Petersburg, where the first "large-scale" pyramid appeared at one time, has now found itself on the periphery of the industry, and there is no one to repeat the success of the wife of Yevgeny Prigozhin.]. dp (in Russian). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Евгений Пригожин, он же "Повар Путина" не платит за землю в Петербурге" [Yevgeny Prigozhin, aka “Putin Cook” does not pay for land in St. Petersburg]. TSN.Life (in Russian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- Гладышева, Ольга (Gladysheva, Olga) (20 April 2019). "Пока Пригожин управляет армией наемников, его жена нанимает уфологов и ищет рецепт бессмертия в своем спа-салоне" [While Prigozhin manages an army of mercenaries, his wife hires ufologists and seeks a recipe for immortality in her spa-salon]. Dozhd (in Russian). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- Пастуков, Владимир (Pastukov, Vladimir) (28 June 2018). ""Повар Путина" перестал платить за землю в Петербурге" ["Putin Cook" has stopped paying for land in St. Petersburg]. Э́хо Москвы́ (Ekho Moskvy) (in Russian). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "Шеф и повар. Часть вторая: Рассказ о том, кого и как кормит кремлевский ресторатор" [Chef and cook. Part two: The story of whom and how the Kremlin restaurateur feeds]. Проект Медиа (Proekt) (in Russian). 28 March 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- "СМИ: Миллиардер Евгений Пригожин с подачи Дмитрия Медведева собирается намыть у Лахты остров" [Media: Billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, with the filing of Dmitry Medvedev, is going to wash an island near Lakhta]. dp (in Russian). 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.