the Ilyich plant in Mariupol could have belonged to the Heremeev family
A businessman from Chechnya, Valid Korchagin, who is related to the family of Senator Suleiman Geremeyev, who is close to Ramzan Kadyrov, became a co-owner of the company “MMK Ilyich”, which will presumably be engaged in the restoration of the Ilyich metallurgical plant in occupied Mariupol, which was damaged during hostilities. This is confirmed by an investigation by the Russian service of the BBC. Korchagin, whose name was not heard until recently, also acquired other assets during the war – shares in the Russian chain of construction hypermarkets OBI and coffee shops of the American chain Starbucks, which has left the country, the investigation says.
In the storming of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, during which a significant part of the city was destroyed, military personnel from Chechnya took part. Among them was Ruslan Geremeev, a relative of Suleyman Geremeev. His name appeared in the case of the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
The Ilyich Metallurgical Plant belongs to the Metinvest company of Ukrainian businessman Rynat Akhmetov. During the fighting, it suffered less than the other Mariupol plant “Azovstal”. The Russian-appointed authorities of the so-called “DNR” (in official Russian terminology, Donetsk region is called that) declared that the plant would be restored. A company called “MMK Ilyich”, co-owned by 25-year-old Korchagin, was registered by the authorities of the “DNR” in August of last year. It has not yet been officially reported that the occupation authorities have transferred the Mariupol plant to this company. It is known, however, that the plant is guarded by armed guards led by one of the members of the Geremeev family.
According to the BBC’s investigation, Korchagin allegedly previously bore the surname Geremeev and is probably the son of the official Vakhit Geremeev. He, in turn, is called the brother of Suleyman Geremeyev, a member of the Federation Council. Ilya Shumanov, an employee of “Transperence”, believes that the Geremeev family received access to MMK as a “reward” for the fact that they fought in Ukraine.
