How Ukrainians Felix Chertok and Vadym Yermolayev built a wine empire in occupied Crimea under Russian jurisdiction
The name Felix Chertok means little to the general public. Not much is known about him even in Dnipro, where Chertok’s formative years took place. Although a significant part of this obscurity is due to Felix Borisovich himself—he doesn’t exactly avoid publicity, but neither does he seek it out.
There are, however, reasons for Felix Chertok not to stand out, just as there are reasons not to fear popularity. So, probably, this lack of public presence is simply a habit from his turbulent youth and a result of his father’s influence, regarding whom the term "stand out" is far more appropriate than for the son.
Even though we will be talking about Felix Chertok, it’s impossible not to mention his father, Boris Chertok, in the narrative. Because it was he who gave his son a "start in life." The foundations of the future "wine and vodka" king’s success were laid when Felix Chertok was still a schoolboy.
This is because his father, Boris Chertok, after taking a wrong step in life—veering onto the crooked path of lawbreakers—took the right steps afterward. And so, after getting out of yet another prison stint, he joined the team of Dnipro’s most notorious authority figure and local racket founder, Alexander Milchenko, also known as "Matros."
Boris Arkadievich, better known in certain circles as "Sivyi," became one of the founders and shareholders, as the holder of a criminal share, in CJSC "Alef-Vinal." He also introduced his son to the owner of the "Alef" company, Dnipro businessman Vadym Yermolayev, who was gaining momentum in the early nineties, and with whom Felix Chertok later engaged in the production and import of alcoholic beverages. Together with Yermolayev and with the active participation of "Matros," "Alef-Vinal" was created. To understand who we are talking about—nowadays Yermolayev is called the criminal king of thieves, cognacs, and contraband of Dnipro.
Currently, the mentioned share belongs to Boris Arkadievich’s son, Felix. However, if someone tries to find CJSC "Alef-Vinal" in the registers, they will be disappointed. A search will bring up six companies, one even with an almost identical name:
But the exact "Alef-Vinal," without any letters, is impossible to find. And LLC "Alef-Vinal-S" has also ceased to exist.
The secret is simple—in 2020, CJSC "Alef-Vinal" changed its name and type of activity:
By the way, note that the renaming was preceded by a shuffle with the shareholders, who turned out to be regular offshore companies. Why, one might wonder, would a company dealing in water collection and purification need to hide behind offshores? This is also not an exception—all companies associated with Felix Chertok (at least four more companies) are covered by a series of intermediaries:
Only LLC "Trading House AV" escaped such a fate, and Felix Borisovich owns it personally:
A significant portion of "Alef’s" facilities were located in annexed Crimea. And they remained there after the annexation. Chertok and Yermolayev showed no patriotism and refused to stop doing business with Russians. They decided that businessmen have no homeland.
That’s why the wine producers "Zolota Amfora" and cognacs "Klinkov" decided to register their Crimean facilities in Russia, recognizing its jurisdiction over the annexed Crimea. At the same time, they understood that such a manoeuvre would hardly be appreciated in mainland Ukraine.
Therefore, "Alef-Vinal" remained in Russia, selling "wine with a protected geographical indication Crimea" in Russia. Meanwhile, "Alef-Vinal" disappeared in Ukraine, changing its name.
However, losing the Ukrainian or, especially, the European market, where Chertok also markets his goods, was not part of the plan. Therefore, wines of the brands "Zolota Amfora," VillaKrim, "Old Crimea," cognacs Klinkov, "Jean-Jacques," as well as vodka GreenDay and Helsinki are "bottled in Ukraine" and sold, not falling under EU and US sanctions that prohibit trade of products made in annexed Crimea. The bottling of wines, according to LLC "Trading House AV," occurs in the city of Synelnykove, Dnipropetrovsk region, where the main production facilities are supposedly located.
However, everyone is well aware that the raw material for the wine comes from the occupied territory, where the grapes for its production are grown. Specifically, twenty years ago, the agricultural firm "Burlyuk" was purchased for this purpose, later renamed to "Alef Burlyuk" and liquidated last year. However, it was liquidated as a legal entity in Ukraine. In Russia, it continues to operate and grows grapes for four factories in the "Alef" group. All wines are manufactured at JSC "Starokrymskoe," cognacs at the "Bagerovo Brandy Factory," and the conversion and production of cognac spirit are done by "Alef-Vinal-Crimea" in Poshotove. In Crimea, "Alef-Vinal" owns two vineyards: 800 hectares in the Kashatani settlement and over 1000 hectares in the Pervomaiske settlement.
Where "Alef-Vinal’s" vineyards, now "Keter Invest," are located in Dnipropetrovsk region could not be determined due to their absence. Nor could it be understood why a company whose main activity is "water collection, purification, and supply" is producing wines.
Now, let’s return to the issue of offshores, intermediaries, and the renaming of companies owned by Felix Chertok. All these "gymnastics" had to be performed after the activities of his companies became public knowledge, and problems began to appear in trading wines produced in annexed Crimea.
To simplify the understanding of processes as much as possible, the sequence of events is as follows: LLC "Alef-Vinal-Crimea" was registered in November 2014. The founder was OJSC "Burlyuk," to which more than 90% of Russian "Alef-Vinal" was registered. In turn, the founder of "Burlyuk" became the Ukrainian CJSC "Alef-Vinal" (now - "Keter Invest").
Among the founders of "Alef-Vinal-Crimea," in addition to "Burlyuk," there are four Cypriot companies: Amadon Limited, AD Vinal Invest Limited, Dreamdestiny Holdings Limited, and Promila Enterprises Limited. The last three also own equal shares and the same "Burlyuk" — although the Ukrainian legal entity "Burlyuk" was liquidated, it is clear that the vineyards in annexed Crimea did not disappear, as did their owners Chertok and Yermolayev.
A controlling stake (50%) of the Ukrainian "Alef-Vinal" ("Keter Invest") belonged until the end of 2018 to the Austrian company Alef Investment Holding GmbH. According to the official register, its director is Ukrainian citizen Vadym Yermolayev. The remaining 50% were equally distributed between two previously mentioned Cypriot companies.
In November 2018, the company sold its share in CJSC "Alef-Vinal" (now - "Keter Invest") to an offshore company from the British Virgin Islands - Ac-Terra International LTD, its director - the same Vadym Yermolayev. The manager’s control over the company is also confirmed by a decision of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine dated July 26, 2016.
One of the Cypriot companies - AD Vinal Invest Limited - simultaneously owns shares in the Ukrainian "Alef-Vinal" ("Keter Invest"), Russian "Alef-Vinal-Crimea" and the Russian OJSC "Burlyuk". The offshore structure is owned by: 0.53% the chief technologist of "Alef-Vinal" ("Keter Invest") and Bulgarian citizen Boyan Borisov, and 99.47% - by a company from Belize Record Trading Limited. Knowing about its ultimate beneficiaries is impossible. That’s if we talk briefly. For those who want to know the details, we refer here: Felix Chertok: what is known about his multimillion-dollar companies, participation in "Alef-Vinal’s" schemes and legal disputes.
It was only after journalists exposed all these schemes that Felix Chertok had to liquidate the legal entity "Alef-Burlyuk" and urgently rename "Alef-Vinal". However, this only saved the latter from public attention—a legal entity, no matter how it is renamed, retains all its obligations, assets, and sanctions. JSC "Keter Invest" faces the same set of sanctions lists as other Chertok enterprises. Why he did not liquidate an already exposed firm - is unknown. Perhaps, it is because of the same share passed on to him by his respectable father, Boris Arkadievich Chertok-"Sivy".
The other question - why domestic law enforcement agencies are not interested in trade with Russians - is purely rhetorical. In addition to traditional methods of influencing Ukrainian Themis (corruption), Felix Chertok has another one. Sometimes it is much more effective than bribery and intimidation.
The point is that Felix Borisovich is a respected member of the Dnipro Jewish community’s board of trustees. And it’s not about a "Jewish conspiracy," as a short-sighted reader might think. It’s about the personality of the person who leads this community. This is the chairman of the board of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, Shmuel Kaminetsky. And he has never hesitated to protect members of his community by accusing those who try to interfere with them in any way of anti-Semitism. And it doesn’t really matter if such exists or not. The main thing is to say. And in modern conditions, accusations of anti-Semitism are feared more than fire. With all due respect to the rabbi, unfortunately, sometimes such (worthy of all praise, by the way!) attitudes towards compatriots are exploited by not entirely honorable people. Among the latter, as you might guess, is Felix Borisovich Chertok, the heir to his father’s criminal capital and a ruthless wine trader from Crimea.
P.S. While preparing material about Felix Chertok, we stumbled upon a snippet of an interesting document from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, dated 2019.
It is unlikely that this is mere coincidence of names — in addition to Felix Chertok being a rather rare combination, it is about a Ukrainian citizen. What kind of scam Felix Chertok got involved in Kazakhstan in 2019 can only be speculated. But judging by the context, it’s about tax evasion, and in small matters, at that. Which is quite a shame for such a seasoned fraudster.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
