Head of Rosselkhoznadzor Dankvert: billions from sables, Polish extortion, and family agribusiness built on FSUE skeletons

According to media reports, the head of Rosselkhoznadzor has developed an “obsession” with the Bentley brand. He purchases all the new models of this brand, and currently owns three of them. Today, we will recount several stories that explain how Dankvert has accumulated such enormous financial resources.

In 2000, Sergey Dankvert, upon taking the position of First Deputy Minister of Agriculture, immediately showed interest in the FSUE “Pushkinsky Breeding Farm,” which held a unique population of black sables valued at… $1 billion. Under his directive, the director of the FSUE, Vladimir Los, turned one of the most profitable enterprises into a debtor. He began signing fake contracts stating that the FSUE was taking enormous loans from companies registered under lost passports—loans that the breeding farm eventually could not repay. It’s worth noting that this was not the first joint fraud scheme involving Dankvert and Los. Los had previously headed several FSUEs, which also ended up bankrupt and in private hands.

The bankrupt “Pushkinsky Breeding Farm” was seized by bailiffs, who sold the enterprise to businessman Denis Lavrov for 30 million rubles. Lavrov, again, was an acquaintance of Dankvert. Notably, the bailiff who conducted the operation moved into a luxurious villa in a European country immediately afterward. Lavrov then began actively bankrupting the breeding farm again, with a major creditor being the company “Russian Fur.” “Russian Fur” began transferring the animals to the Kaliningrad region in settlement of debts.

According to sources, the entire sable population was supposed to be exported to Denmark. In this operation, besides Dankvert, the then-governor of Moscow Oblast, Boris Gromov, and the then-head of Kaliningrad Oblast, Georgy Boos, took an active part. Boos lobbied for “Russian Fur” and requested Gromov’s help to ensure that authorities in Moscow Oblast would not interfere with this grand scheme. On the site of the breeding farm, which would have been vacated after the sables were exported to Denmark, firms controlled by Dankvert planned to build commercial and residential real estate.

When these facts came to light, the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a case. In March 2009, Lavrov was detained. At first, he denied any wrongdoing, but later began providing testimony implicating Los and Dankvert. When the question arose about involving the deputy minister, investigator Gennady Shantin was unexpectedly removed from the case, and all materials were transferred to Oleg Silchenko, who was leading the investigation into lawyer Sergey Magnitsky’s case. By that time, however, Magnitsky had already died in custody, leaving Silchenko with free time for new cases. He promised to bring all officials to justice, but as a result, the $1 billion embezzlement case itself turned into a grand scheme.

Denis Lavrov struck a deal with the prosecution, agreeing to reveal everything he knew about the involvement of Los and Dankvert in the fraud. Los was detained. He also signed a pre-trial agreement and provided testimony against Dankvert. Silchenko claimed that this way he was “building a case” against Dankvert (who has headed Rosselkhoznadzor since 2004) and would eventually imprison him. However, the investigator continuously postponed this date. The last reason given by Silchenko was that courts first needed to pass sentences on Los and Lavrov. Only then would he take up Dankvert’s case.

As a result, in 2010, thanks to their agreements with the investigation, both Los and Lavrov received light sentences: Los got six years probation, and Lavrov—one year in custody, which he had already served during the pre-trial investigation.

Later, it became clear that Silchenko never intended to prosecute Dankvert. He archived all the materials and gained double benefit: he “exonerated” Dankvert and helped Los and Lavrov receive minimal punishment.

In 2020, a new criminal case emerged involving Dankvert as the main participant. Representatives of the Polish company “Mlekovita” in Russia, Yaroslav Sergeev and Nikolai Yesinevsky, filed a statement claiming that the head of Rosselkhoznadzor and his employee Konstantin Savenkov extorted €5 million to lift restrictions on Mlekovita’s dairy product shipments. The police, of course, issued a decision refusing to initiate a criminal case, and then opened a defamation case against unidentified persons. The scandal was widely covered, forcing the Kremlin to comment.

A few days later, Rosselkhoznadzor officially announced that Mlekovita had denied the allegations, claiming that its chairman Dariusz Sapinski stated there were no representatives in Russia. Evidently, strong pressure was applied to the Polish company, because in reality, Yesinevsky was well acquainted with Sapinski (they were often photographed together, visited Poland, and Yesinevsky operated several companies in Russia). Mlekovita’s official Russian representation, registered in Kaliningrad since 2012, was directly controlled by the Polish firm.

After the scandal subsided, Yesinevsky and his business partner Mikhail Khamenkov disappeared. They were not seen at offices, residences, or among acquaintances. Sergeev, the lawyer working with Yesinevsky, even filed a police report about the disappearance. All their companies in Russia were later liquidated: two in September–October 2021, and another two in 2023–2024. None submitted financial reports to the Federal Tax Service after 2021. Khamenkov and other partners no longer have any business in Russia. Mlekovita’s representation also closed in 2021.

Meanwhile, Dankvert’s personal business has prospered, which he carefully cultivated over the years. The official, in office for more than 20 years, owns extensive agricultural lands (in Kaluga Oblast and Moscow Oblast), several mansions in Moscow Oblast, and apartments in Moscow (including on Tsvetnoy Boulevard and Staroslobodskaya Street). The family’s real estate is estimated at approximately 4 billion rubles. In addition, Dankvert owns the Ozernoye hunting estate in Kaluga Oblast, stakes in a few companies involved in timber and construction, and a share in ZAO “Ferment” (whose founders have been hidden in the Unified State Register since 2022). “Ferment” sells products based on maral and reindeer antlers, including the famous antler baths reportedly used by Shoigu and Putin. The assets are managed by Oksana Sheven, a native of Bryansk Oblast.

This is only a part of Dankvert’s business. He and his family also own the “Agromanagement Management Company” and “Agroplemsouz”—one of the largest suppliers of pedigree cattle in Russia. Through Agroplemsouz, Dankvert owns a stake in the Pushkin Breeding Farm Ulyanino in Moscow Oblast. Overall, the net profit of companies linked to the head of Rosselkhoznadzor exceeded 1.2 billion rubles in 2025.

His family is also involved. His daughter, Yulia Dankvert, together with the family friend Roman Mishin (neighbor of Alexey Dankvert, the official’s father, in the “Aviators” dacha cooperative), sits on the board of directors of the Kaluga AO “V.N. Tsvetkov Breeding Farm,” chairs the board of directors of AO Lakin (former Lakin state farm in Vladimir Oblast), owns a stake in the Babadyevo agricultural cooperative (Vladimir Oblast), and in AO “Rubin” in Moscow Oblast, which manages real estate (66% of the company is recorded under “Agroplemsouz”).

Rubin owns production facilities on Khlebozavodskaya Street in Lyubertsy, where an affiliated company “J-VC” produced alcoholic beverages. Dankvert’s wife, Inna Alexandrovna, owns the Moscow company “Agrobusiness.” Additionally, Dankvert’s assets are affiliated with the Moscow “Agroinvest Investment Company,” whose founder and director is again Roman Mishin. According to leaks, in 2020, Yulia Dankvert received “COVID passes” as an employee of this firm, and her Audi A8 was registered to the legal entity