While Mykola Azarov, ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine, who fled to Russia in 2014, continues to comment on Ukrainian politics from Moscow and act as a propagandist for the war, a mosaic of his legacy is gradually taking shape in Ukraine: estates, offshore companies, a collection of cultural artifacts, and criminal cases involving multibillion-dollar tax schemes. Whether the state will succeed, a decade after the former Prime Minister’s flight, in converting his assets – amassed through the backbreaking labor of the former head of the tax service and the government- into state revenue is currently being decided by several courts at once. The main battle is taking place in the High Anti-Corruption Court, where individuals whom the Ministry of Justice identifies as the nominal owners of Oleksiy and Mykola Azarov’s assets are participating in the hearings in person. Who are they, and how did the fugitive Prime Minister’s family amass wealth in Crimea during the Russian occupation of the peninsula? Find out in this investigation by the Center for Journalistic Investigations.
The first episode: sanctions
In May 2026, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, naming Mykola and Oleksiy Azarov as defendants in the administrative case. Referring to the Law of Ukraine «On Sanctions,» the ministry is seeking to forfeit to the state any assets that they directly or indirectly own or have the power to dispose of. Mykola Azarov has been subject to sanctions imposed by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine since November 2023, and Oleksiy Azarov since May 2025. In both cases, the sanctions provide for the freezing of assets for a period of ten years.
The case involves five Ukrainian companies and one British company, which is part of the ownership structure of the Ukrainian LLCs. The Ministry of Justice considers the beneficiaries of these companies, as listed in the Ukrainian State Registry, to be the nominal owners of the assets and high-value property they hold.
First and foremost, these are Konstantin Pivovarov and Dmitry Nikitchenko, who are co-owners of three limited liability companies: «Bethel,» «Soleiland Development» and «Intertower Ukraine». Both personally attend court hearings, which, you must admit, is a rare occurrence in Ukraine. Perhaps, this is their way of demonstrating that they are the actual, rather than nominal, owners of these companies.
Court meeting in the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, July 17, 2026. Photo: CJI / T.Rykhtun
Konstantin Pivovarov has been mentioned in journalist investigations since the Panama Papers leak as a co-owner of Farigton Holdings Limited (BVI). Prior to 2014, Oleksiy Azarov, a former Member of Ukrainian Parliament and son of Mykola Azarov, was identified as the beneficial owner.
In 2010–2011, Pivovarov served as the Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine in Mykola Azarov’s government. After his dismissal, he became Vice President of «Metalist» football club, which at that time had been sold by Kharkiv oligarch Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi to young oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko. As Vice of President of football club, Pivovarov gave many interviews. In other words, as of 2014, when the Azarovs’ assets began «raining down» on him, Pivovarov had none of his own.
As Austrian investigators discovered, in February 2014, before leaving Ukraine, Oleksiy Azarov gifted to a «friend» the Austrian company Garda Handels-und Beteiligungs GmbH, which holds Azarovs’ real estate in Austria and Italy as well as assets in Ukraine, including the «Metalist» plant in Makiivka.
«The investigation points, among other things, to a gift that was not affected by the sanctions freezing Azarov’s assets in Austria. A few hours before Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv on February 21, 2014, Oleksiy Azarov gifted the company «Garda» to his Ukrainian friend P.,» the ARA news agency reported.
Kostyantyn Pivovarov, considered by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to be nominal owner of assets of Azarov family, 2013. Photo: РЕДПОСТ
Pivovarov holds shares in three Ukrainian companies that are the subject of a sanctions lawsuit. Following a court hearing in which a representative of the Ministry of Justice referred to him as the «nominal owner,» Konstantin Pivovarov told the Center for Journalist Investigations that he «has never been and is not» the nominal owner.
From left to right: Dmytro Nikitchenko and Kostyantyn Pivovarov during the court hearing in the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine. Photo: CJI / T.Rykhtun
The second person whom the Ministry of Justice considers to be the nominal owner of Azarov family’s assets is Dmytro Nikitchenko, a business partner of Pivovarov. He has not been a prominent official during Azarov’s time. He was allegedly brought in to manage the Ukrainian portion of the assets through a trusted representative of the Azarov family – Pyvovarov – in order to protect Kyiv real estate and land from sanctions and special confiscation. It is precisely this artificial connection that the Ministry of Justice is now proving in court.
Upon advice of his attorney, Dmytro Nikitchenko declined to comment when asked by the Center for Journalist Investigations.
The firm «Aterna» is solely owned by Yevgeniya Rozumna. There is little information available in open sources about her business activities. But here is a noteworthy detail: she owns LLC «Polus-Center» and «Konstanta Center» in equal shares with the aforementioned Kostyantyn Pivovarov. And these companies are registered at the now-familiar address of the business center on Baseynaya Street.
As the CJI discovered, these companies are used to control business centers and land plots in Koncha-Zaspa (Stolichne Highway, 21 and 23).
Infographics generated with an assistance of ChatGPT
It is worth discussing the land plots and LLC «Terra Estate» in more detail. Investigations conducted a decade ago revealed that the Azarov family’s estate in Koncha-Zaspa is registered under this company’s name. In May 2025, a court ordered the seizure of eight land plots owned by «Terra Estate».
99% of the company is owned by Boulet Sales LP, a company registered in Scotland, and its beneficiary, as listed in the British registry from 2017 through May 2019, is 38-year-old Ukrainian Dmytro Prymak, whom the Ministry of Justice also considers the nominal owner. He is also listed as the beneficial owner of «Terra Invest» in the Ukrainian registry as of December 2021. Prior to that, Volodymyr Lipara from Donetsk has been listed as the beneficial owner for three years. He currently owns 1% of the LLC and serves as its director.
From 2011 to 2013, Dmytro Prymak worked at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade in Mykola Azarov’s government. As for Volodymyr Lipara, he has had ties with Azarov Jr. in Russia. They were co-founders of the Russian LLC «REM.»
The Ukrainian companies named in the Ministry of Justice’s lawsuit reported total revenue of more than 50 million UAH in 2025. The only company for which revenue data is not publicly available is LLC «Terra Estate», as its purpose is different: to preserve land plots and Azarov family’s house in Koncha-Zaspa, 934.6 square meters, located at 23 Stolichne Shosse, Kyiv
House of Azarov family in Koncha-Zaspa. Screen from video of TSN
Since 2019, this property has been seized pursuant to a ruling by the Kyiv Court of Appeals and transferred to the ARMA for management. The agency has repeatedly attempted to find a property manager for the building, but without success.
It is difficult to find a property manager for the estate where the Azarov family’s security guard, Sergii Gorlov, is registered—this is the address listed on his court summons.
By the same ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeals, the property of Azarov family in the village of Khlepcha, Kyiv Oblast, was seized. This property consists of residential buildings and land plots, which the Ministry of Justice is also attempting to forfeit to the state.
House of Azarov in the village of Khlepcha, Kyiv oblast. Screenshot from video investigation of Слідство.інфо, 2015
The Ministry of Justice’s list also includes assets on the Southern Coast of Crimea that Mykola Azarov acquired before the Russian occupation of the peninsula – assets that the Center for Journalist Investigations has repeatedly covered in its reports. After all, Azarov had a habit of using public funds to renovate resort facilities that had been illegally appropriated through the «Professional» and «Garant» charitable foundations.
According to the text of the High Anti-Corruption Court’s ruling, these consist of four land plots in the village of Foros and a 465.9-square-meter cottage with terraces and a garage. The property is located in the «Chekhovo» housing cooperative, of which Oleksiy Azarov was originally a member. In 2006, his father and mother also joined the cooperative.
Detailed report about assets of Azarov family on the Southern Coast of Crimea before Russian occupation see in CJI’s investigation «Wild Place of Azarov Family»
Following Russia’s occupation of Crimea, the «Chekhovo» summer cottage cooperative was also registered under Russian jurisdiction. Eduard Fatkhulin – the father-in-law of Oleksii Azarov and the matchmaker for Mykola Azarov- has served as chairman of its board until June 2025. He has been the founder or head of several Azarov’s companies in the Russian Federation, including the aforementioned LLC «REM».
Cooperative «Chekhovo» in the village of Sanatorne (Foros). Oleksii Azarov and his parents Mykola and Ludmyla are its members whereas Olkesii’s father-in-law Eduard Fatkhulin has been the head of the board of cooperative during Russian occupation. 2013. Photo: CJI
The Center for Journalist Investigations has repeatedly reported on the brazen seizure of two health resorts in Gurzuf — the «Gurzuf» International Youth Center (formerly «Sputnik») and the «Pushkino» sanatorium, which are located side by side on the waterfront along Pushkin Embankment, a stretch of the seafront that local residents have renamed Pushkin-Azarov Embankment.
On October 21, 2004 – that is, ten days before the first round of the presidential election – the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea removed the Gurzuf International Medical Center from the list of entities not subject to privatization. Mykola Azarov transferred the center to the jurisdiction of the State Tax Administration several years earlier. And on the eve of the second round of the presidential election, without a competitive bidding process and at a ridiculously low price, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea designated the scandal-ridden «Professional» charitable foundation as the buyer. When Azarov headed the State Tax Administration, it was this very foundation that received the exclusive right to sell confiscated or seized property, as well as to collect «voluntary» donations from business owners.
The same scheme was carried out with regard to the privatization of the «Pushkino» health resort. After the Orange Revolution, «Professional» transferred the «Gurzuf» International Medical Center and the «Pushkino» sanatorium to another charitable foundation «Garant» – registered with the same directors and founders, and with the same address used for the mass registration of Azarov’s companies in Pechersk: 9-B Baseina Street. The following year, in 2006, the «Gurzuf» International Medical Center and the «Pushkino» sanatorium were reorganized into a new legal entity—the «Gurzuf Recreation and Health Complex «Pearl of Crimea» charitable organization.
Even before the Russian occupation of Crimea, there was much written about the plans of Oleksiy Azarov’s company to build the luxury «Pushkino Plaza» hotel on the grounds of «Pearl of Crimea.» And those plans came to fruition – only it’s not a hotel, but the «Pushninsky» residential complex, where apartment prices start at 36 million rubles.
Residential complex «Pushkinsky» in Gurzuf built by Azarov’s companies on the territory of illegally appropriated sanatorium «Pushkino», 2024. Photo: Yandex
During Mykola Azarov’s tenure as the Prime Minister, Gurzuf received government subsidies on more than one occasion. In particular, in 2010, as much as 30 million UAH were allocated for «improvements» to the waterfront. As the Center for Journalist Investigations found, it was the beachfront properties of privatized health resorts that became the «golden» assets. The «Pearls of Crimea» beaches, which were closed to the general public due to their status as therapeutic facilities, were covered with red pebbles and underwent shoreline reinforcement work. And during a storm in 2012, another 10 million UAH were embezzled.
Following Russian occupation of Crimea – which the Azarov family wholeheartedly supported – «Pearl of Crimea» was renamed into LLC «Gurzuf Center» and registered under Russian jurisdiction, still with the same Ukrainian founder- the «Garant» charitable foundation (which, incidentally, is still active today).
In early 2018, it was replaced by Muslim Arbiev – the owner of a security firm – and by 2022, the founder was listed as Sergii Gorlov, a security guard for the Azarov’s family whom we are familiar with. He is listed as the owner of eight companies in Russia, half of which have already been liquidated. Gorlov is the sole owner of LLC «Private Security Organization ‘Argon,’» registered in the Ryazan Region, where Alexei Azarov’s cotton business is located—the «Rusvata» and «Meditell» factories, which are positioned as one of the market leaders in cotton products.
In October 2024, the founder of the «Gurzuf Center» was registered as the Moscow-based LLC «Pushkino,» which had been established just three months earlier with a statutory capital of a mere 10,000 Rubles and with private individual founders — Lyudmila Puzyreva (99%), who had previously been involved in retail trade as a sole proprietor in the Krasnodar Krai, and Pavel Puzyrev.
And then, out of nowhere and with no clear source of funding, a whole host of affiliated companies appears – specialized developers (SDs), including the once again renamed «Gurzuf Center,» as well as several developers who have «set their sights» on Alushta and the «Alushta Sanatorium» Creative Center – stolen from Ukraine – along with its 15 hectares of relict park.
Four numbered companies registered under Olga Puzyreva’s name bear the name «Soyuz-Alushta.» According to the Unified Register of Housing Construction of the Russian Federation, «Soyuz-Alushta-2» is building the «Parkovaya Residentsiya» residential complex, consisting of four buildings, on the grounds of the House of Creativity and its park. Construction Company «Soyuz-Alushta-1» is building the «Crimean Residence» residential complex in the same city, while in Massandra, Construction Company «Gurzuf-Pushkino» is constructing the «Yalta Residence.» But that’s a whole other story, one to which the Center for Journalist Investigations will return to shed light on all the connections between developers and their backers that are of interest from the perspective of sanctions.
The Azarovs’ business history on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and Russia also requires a significant update, as it is based on «shadow capital» that was illegally transferred out of Ukraine. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating a criminal case involving money laundering and a large-scale tax evasion scheme, which, according to investigators, was organized by former President Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, former Head of the State Tax Service and Minister of Revenue and Duties Oleksandr Klymenko, and their subordinates. According to law enforcement officials, in just five months of 2011, the state budget lost nearly three billion UAH in tax revenue due to «tax loopholes».
To be continued…
