Inside a Russian corruption network: how Rosprirodnadzor chief Svetlana Radionova, SOGAZ, and Russian waste tycoons operate with impunity
Maria Makarchuk, a personal aide for special assignments to the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) Svetlana Radionova, is employed by SOGAZ — the insurance company headed by Radionova’s civil partner, Anton Ustinov.
In the previous part of the investigation, the media described how Makarchuk interacts with businessmen under Radionova’s patronage. Their companies systematically violate environmental laws, while Rosprirodnadzor turns a blind eye. Today we reveal other schemes involving Radionova and Ustinov in which Makarchuk plays a key role.
Maria Makarchuk lives in the same building on Istrinskaya Street in Moscow as another Radionova aide, Lyubov Kharitonova (also known as Lukyanova), the nominal owner of Radionova’s foreign assets. Makarchuk also owns a country house in the elite Pavlovo-2 cottage settlement in the Istra district. In 2021, she ordered furniture there, and in several contacts her phone number is saved as “Maria Pavlovo-2.” She also placed online orders to three other addresses within the same settlement. Property prices in Pavlovo-2 start at 140 million rubles, with some homes costing up to 1.5–2 billion.
Her husband, Ruslan Makarchuk, previously co-founded Rusjet Service, a company that reported net losses for two consecutive years. It is evident that the main breadwinner in the family is Maria herself. For several years she was formally employed at Rostekhnadzor under Radionova and later continued performing assistant functions without an official position.
Since 2016, Makarchuk served as director of the municipal Odintsovo Park of Culture, Sports, and Recreation (MBUK OPKSIO), while simultaneously acting as an adviser to the head of the Odintsovo district, Andrey Ivanov. Under her leadership, major contracts from OPKSIO — totaling 1.2 billion rubles in 2025 alone — were awarded to Elite Garden LLC, owned by the Lukashov family, whose unusually successful business was previously detailed by VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info.
Makarchuk maintains close ties not only with the district head but also with local deputies, including United Russia lawmaker Mikhail Devyatyarov, a former Olympic skier. Airline tickets for Devyatyarov, just like those for Radionova, were booked from Makarchuk’s personal phone number.
Since 2021, Makarchuk has also been employed by SOGAZ, where she holds the position of deputy head of the executive office of the chairman of the board — Anton Ustinov himself. According to sources, it was under Ustinov that a scheme was established to siphon and launder SOGAZ funds through a network of individual entrepreneurs. An individual entrepreneur registered in the name of Makarchuk’s mother, Lidia Makarova, officially operating as an insurance agent, was allegedly involved in these schemes.
As previously reported, Makarchuk organized private receptions for businessmen and officials personally protected by Radionova. Among them are Sergey Astashov, a “waste industry” tycoon controlling a large share of the multibillion-ruble drilling waste recycling market in Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets regions; Sergey Nesterenko, majority owner of Volgogradnefteproekt LLC; and Igor Isaev, former head of Rostekhnadzor’s Lower Volga division, who is currently wanted on bribery charges.
Despite this, Radionova continues to maintain close contact with Isaev’s civil wife, Polina Vergun, former Minister of Ecology of the Volgograd region. Like Radionova, the Vergun-Isaev family owns real estate in France. Vergun previously worked in the waste management sector and is now among the beneficiaries of the Clean City Group, one of Russia’s largest waste-handling operators.
Another figure in Radionova’s circle is Lyudmila Sivacheva, a former Vesti-Irkutsk TV presenter and ex-aide to the Irkutsk region governor. The trademark “Ecology Is Everyone’s Business” is registered in her name — the same title as Rosprirodnadzor’s international youth environmental award, personally presented by Radionova every year since 2021.
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