As the Association has already reported, on May 24, Crimean collaborators announced a new criminal wave of “nationalization”, in which, in addition to “image” objects such as the Mejlis building, they decided to snatch a very “real jackpot”.
In particular, we are talking about the capture of the “Alef-Vinal-Krym” wine-making production, specially mentioned by the criminal Vladimir Konstantinov, in the “staff” of which there are “up to 500 workers”.
In 2019, “Radio.Svoboda” and “Ukrayinska Pravda” conducted journalistic investigations on this enterprise, indicating that Vadim Yermolaev, a businessman from the Dnieper, with a capital of about $100 million, was behind the production.
“Alef-Vinal-Krym” products, illegally exported from the Crimea to the Russian market, were manufactured at four Crimean structures – wines at the illegal “Starokrymske” company, cognacs at the “Bagerovo” vintage cognac factory”, grapes were grown by the “Burlyuk” agricultural company”, and cognac alcohol was produced by the “Alef-Vinal-Krym” workshop in the village of Pochtove.
This structure disposed of two vineyards on the peninsula: 800 hectares in the Kashtany village and more than 1,000 hectares in the Pervomayske village.
The journalists pointed out that in parallel, on the Ukraine-controlled territory, “Alef-Vinal” produced alcohol products with a deployment in Sinelnikove town, its controlling stake until 2019 belonged to the Austrian company “Alef Investment Holding GmbH”, headed by the same Vadim Ermolaev, then this share was transferred offshore from the British Virgin Islands – “Ac-Terra International LTD”, of the same Ermolaev.
At the same time, as journalists reported, the Crimean “Alef-Vinal-Krym” and its “founder”, together with four Cypriot companies, “Burliuk”, under the conditions of occupation, were repeatedly illegally credited in the sanctioned Russian National Commercial Bank, and also served occupiers’illegal “government contracts” in the amount of almost 140 million rubles.
Not surprisingly, that in 2018, Vadim Ermolaev and his business partner Stanislav Vilensky became involved in a scandal in Estonia when the European Central Bank revoked the license of their “Versobank AS” on suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing.
