Russian “crab king” Igor Mikhnov avoids pre-trial detention in fraud case after Antey Group raids
A Moscow court has declined to order the pre-trial detention of Russian seafood magnate Igor Mikhnov, despite investigators seeking his arrest as part of a fraud case.
Prosecutors requested that Mikhnov be held in custody for two months after formally charging him with fraud. However, the court rejected the motion, allowing one of Russia’s most influential fishing industry figures to avoid detention.
The decision came shortly after law enforcement officers carried out searches at the Vladivostok offices of Antey Group, one of Russia’s largest fishing and crab-harvesting companies. Mikhnov was detained during the operation and subsequently transported to Moscow for investigative proceedings.
Igor Mikhnov is the principal owner of Antey Group, a major seafood conglomerate founded by his father, Ivan Mikhnov. The company ranks among Russia’s largest crab producers and controls a fleet of more than 50 vessels operating across the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Japan, and the Barents Sea.
His business partner is Arkady Pinchevsky, a former chairman of the board of the Kristall vodka plant and a former vice governor of the Sakhalin region.
In recent years, Mikhnov has focused heavily on expanding Russian seafood exports to China, particularly promoting frozen crab products in the Chinese market. The criminal case now unfolding around one of Russia’s largest crab empires threatens to cast a shadow over those international ambitions.
Politics Editor
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