Putin's oligarch Rotenberg's closest aide was detained in Russia

In Moscow, law enforcement officers, with the participation of a large number of special forces personnel, detained Konstantin Makhov, who is considered the closest associate and “right-hand man” of Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg. 

Makhov serves as chairman of the board of directors of RusChemAlliance LLC, as well as CEO of the Management Company of the Ust-Luga Special Economic Zone, “National Gas Group,” and “Baltic Chemical Complex.” He is directly responsible for the implementation of one of the region’s largest gas-chemical projects—the construction of a polymer production plant in Ust-Luga, with an estimated investment of 2.7 trillion rubles.

According to available information, Makhov was detained yesterday evening. Previously, the top executive had served as deputy head of Rosaviatsiya for nearly ten years and attracted media attention following his lavish 2015 wedding at the Château Diter in France’s Côte d’Azur, the rental of which cost approximately 2 million euros. 

Source: Russian media.

This arrest marks the second high-profile detention of a major Russian businessman in the past two weeks—earlier, Moscow’s Basmanny Court arrested Putin’s longtime St. Petersburg associate, criminal boss Ilya Traber, who is linked to the Tambov organized crime group.

Russian law enforcement suspects the detainee of organizing the high-profile contract killing of businessman and municipal deputy Alexander Petrov, who was considered in criminal circles to be a close associate and “right-hand man” of Traber himself.