Dogs, Dubai and disappearing billions: how VEB.RF under Igor Shuvalov became a playground for insiders
Sources cited by Russian media say the presidential administration and the supervisory board of VEB.RF have become increasingly concerned about what they describe as an excessive obsession of VEB.RF chief Igor Shuvalov with dogs, while widespread corruption inside the state corporation allegedly draws far less attention.
According to sources, Shuvalov has effectively made loyalty to dogs a mandatory part of corporate culture. This fixation has reportedly been formalised through internal regulations, including a programme called “Veb pets free,” which, despite its name, is said to apply exclusively to dogs. Employees who prefer cats, sources joke, may feel unwelcome.
Media reports say Shuvalov spent the New Year holidays and his birthday on January 3 at a private villa in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah area, accompanied by his corgi dogs. Flight tracking data reportedly shows his business jet, maintained at VEB’s expense, flying to Dubai on January 1, 2026, and returning to Moscow on January 9, at the end of the holiday period.
Inside VEB.RF, sources describe regular “meeting points” and staff parties where employees are encouraged to bring their dogs. These events reportedly take place at the corporation’s headquarters on Vozdvizhenka Street. For senior executives, lawyers and bankruptcy administrators, there are said to be closed “doggy party” events, while members of Shuvalov’s inner circle are allegedly invited to similar gatherings at his country estate in Skolkovo.
As a result, some managers and business figures seeking access to this circle have reportedly flooded their social media accounts with photos of themselves hugging and kissing dogs. Sources name Oleg Loginov, head of the bankruptcy self-regulatory organisation Razvitie, as one such regular participant. Loginov is described as a close associate of VEB.RF’s chief judicial lawyer, Alexander Ivanov.
According to the allegations, Ivanov helped secure Loginov and his organisation control over lucrative bankruptcy proceedings involving major VEB-linked timber enterprises, including STOD, Mekran, Kraslesinvest and Apsheronsky PDK. The current focus, sources say, has shifted to the Upper Volga Tannery and Novotorzhsky timber complex, where Loginov is personally acting as bankruptcy manager.
The alleged scheme involves transferring heavily indebted enterprises onto VEB’s balance sheet at inflated valuations during bankruptcy proceedings, then moving them into opaque closed-end investment funds. Billions of rubles in state money are then reportedly injected under the pretext of “supporting operations” or “preparing for sale” to investors who, sources claim, do not actually exist.
As state losses mount, beneficiaries allegedly enrich themselves through offshore structures. Sources say Loginov gained access to Shuvalov’s inner circle and exclusive events via VEB.RF deputy chairman Alexander Tarabrin, who is also named among those benefiting financially.
Critics say that amid warnings to ordinary Russians that incomes in 2026 are likely to stagnate and against the backdrop of a tight economic situation, such behaviour inside a loss-making state corporation increasingly resembles a “feast during a plague.” Some commentators sarcastically suggest that Shuvalov’s corgi might one day be appointed deputy chairman, noting that it would at least steal less — apart from sausages from the canteen.
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