SOCIETY
While Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, is cannibalizing its fleet for spare parts in order to compensate for the shortage caused by international sanctions, Vladimir Putin's oligarchs continue to maintain their business jets without difficulty, sourcing everything they need from the West.
In the spring of 2022 — shortly after Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — the European Union and the United States banned the export of luxury goods to Russia, targeting the country's elite and those closest to Vladimir Putin. However, more than two years later, the Russian upper class continues to use private jets without interruption.
Displays for Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller
Alexei Miller, the CEO of Russia’s state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom, is under U.S. sanctions. However, as The Insider has discovered, this hasn't stopped the executive — a friend of Vladimir Putin’s — from acquiring U.S.-made goods for his jet.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller
Miller has a luxury fleet of aircraft at his disposal, assigned to the natural gas company’s private airline, Gazprom Avia. Miller’s plane of choice is a Dassault Falcon.
In March 2023, according to customs documents available to The Insider, Gazprom Avia (ООО Авиапредприятие «Газпром авиа») imported an in-flight computer display specifically for a Falcon jet of the type used by Alexei Miller. The display, manufactured by the American corporation Honeywell International, was valued at $573,500.
In 2023, Gazprom's aviation company also imported $1.5 million worth of turbines from the same manufacturer for a Bombardier aircraft, along with an icing sensor for the Falcon, made by Rosemount Aerospace, also based in the United States. According to data obtained by The Insider, the state-owned company acquires Western spare parts through a Russian intermediary, Modern Mining Machines LLC (ООО «Современные горные машины»). The exporters are Arsenal Trading Limited from Hong Kong and 1 Aircraft LLC from the United States.
Falcon jets for aluminum billionaire Oleg Deripaska
Dassault Falcon business jets are manufactured in France and are favored by both Alexei Miller and oligarch Oleg Deripaska — a metals tycoon that founded the major aluminum producer Rusal. In August, the jet assigned to Deripaska, bearing the tail number RA-09618, visited Thailand, India, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
In February 2023, a company named Arsenal LLC (ООО «Арсенал») purchased the aircraft for $35.8 million through the Kazakhstan-based firm Irtysh-Air.
According to data obtained by The Insider, Arsenal's nominal registered owner has a subsidiary in China — Beijing Jinsennade Trading. This company imports goods for Rusal's facilities, further linking Arsenal — and by extension, the plane — to Deripaska, as corroborated by the matching travel schedules of the oligarch and the jet.
Business aviation and aviation maintenance companies are also importing parts for the Falcon into Russia. For example, Heli-Tech («Хели-Тех») imported an American-made gas turbine engine for $602,000 last summer. The delivery was processed through the Turkish company Madena Otomotiv Insaat Elecrtonic Tic Ltd. In addition, Moscow-based Aog Logistics LLC (ООО «Аог Логистик») imported an oxygen regulator manufactured by Safran Aerotechnics (France). The seller was Shaurya Aeronautics Pvt, located in India.
In January of this year, Turkish firm Meva Hava Araclari sold a French-made electro-hydraulic landing gear release and retraction control unit to the Russian Alliance MN Group LLC (ООО «Альянс МН Групп»). The cost of one of these units comes in at $223,500.
Tires for Putin’s billionaire friend Gennady Timchenko
One of the older aircraft belonging to Putin’s close friend, Gunvor Group co-founder Gennady Timchenko, is a Falcon 7X, registered under a Timchenko-affiliated company called Aviatis (ООО «Авиатис»), which also operates a private Bombardier Challenger jet (now reportedly used by the oligarch's family members, according to data obtained by The Insider).
Vladimir Putin and Gennady Timchenko have been close friends since the early 1990s
Customs records show that Aviatis also circumvents sanctions in order to import spare parts, including an American-made tire for the nose section of landing gear, shipped from Turkey by Alden Gida San Ve Tic Ltd. Last year, the Turkish company also provided the oligarch with an air data computer manufactured by the U.S. firm Rockwell Collins for his Bombardier Challenger 300.
Arkady Rotenberg, known as Putin's “purse” and a recipient of Russia’s largest government contracts for road and bridge construction, also uses a Bombardier private jet. The plane is operated by the company Tarp Aviation («Тарп Авиэйшн») — Austrian firm SecuTrust GmbH notably holds a 24.5% stake in Tarp.
Gaskets for steel magnate Alexei Mordashov
Severstal Aviation Enterprise LLC (ООО «Авиапредприятие «Северсталь»), owned by Alexei Mordashov, a steel magnate and another oligarch close to the Kremlin, also imports spare parts for business jets. In February, for instance, gasket o-rings for a Bombardier aircraft of precisely the type Mordashov uses were imported into Russia.
Aviation parts for the oligarch are supplied by Ascend Aviation India Pvt. Ltd., which exports products made in Mexico and the U.S. to Russia for use by Severstal's fleet.
Vladimir Putin and Alexei Mordashov
Another importer of Bombardier products is JSC NDCA (АО «НДЦА»), led by a Roman Matyushevsky, who, according to The Insider, previously worked within structures owned by Rostec — Russia’s largest state-owned defense conglomerate. Last year, NDCA declared to customs the import, through Georgia, of a Canada-manufactured Global 7500 aircraft valued at $75 million.
Aviakompaniya Severo-Zapad LLC (ООО «Авиакомпания «Северо-Запад», lit. “‘North-West’ Airlines”) imported a GLOBAL 6000 model airplane in March. Severo-Zapad also imports other Bombardier products. For example, thermistors (manufactured by Dassault, France), cylinders (Liebherr, U.S.), and a passenger seat adjustment control panel (Lufthansa Technik, Germany). The sellers are Sunshine Logistics Shenzhen Co (China), Blaze Logistics LLC (Oman), Arezo Aviation Services (India), and Skytop Aviation Supplies (China).
Sky Partner («Скай Партнер»), from the Moscow suburb of Khimki, provides business aviation services. This year, it brought adaptive flight displays for Bombardier jets into Russia, helped by the UAE company ACMI solutions. Another major importer of products for business jets, United Suppliers LLC (ООО «Объединение Поставщиков»), works through intermediaries in the west-central African country of Gabon. The Moscow-based firm buys control buttons, antennas and other American-made equipment from the Gabon-based firm Ter Assala Parts.
Kvantum LLC (ООО «Квантум», lit. “Quantum”) also buys parts for business jets from the same Gabonese firm. But there are multiple other supply chains routing parts to Russia: for example, via a firm based in the UAE, the company Prosupply LLC (ООО «Просапплай») managed to buy a Bombardier-compatible engine starting valve made in the Netherlands.
Shutoff valves for oil magnate Vagit Alekperov
“The sanctions do not concern Lukoil, but concern me personally, so I have decided to distance myself from the company's activities,” was how Vagit Alekperov explained his resignation as president of the Russian oil giant in April 2022 — after the UK had imposed personal sanctions against him. The trick succeeded: two years later, Alekperov himself has avoided European sanctions, and Lukoil continues to operate in Europe.
Vladimir Putin and Vagit Alekperov
However, as discovered by The Insider, the oil company’s founder and shareholder only claims to have distanced himself from Lukoil's activities. In any case, Alekperov uses a Bombardier business jet assigned to Lukoil-Avia — Lukoil's private airline.
In particular, Alekperov personally flew on the Lukoil plane to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in 2023 — well after the publication of his statement about distancing himself from the company's activities.
Last year, Lukoil-Avia imported a shutoff valve for the Bombardier’s air-conditioning system, manufactured in France under the Liebherr brand. The part was shipped by the Serbian company Sprocure. The same Belgrade-based firm supplies Alekperov with Goodyear-brand tires made in the U.S. and passenger lamps produced by U.S.-based Heads Up Technologies.
Jacks for gas tycoon Leonid Mikhelson
Aviakompaniya Severo-Zapad LLC also services Leonid Mikhelson’s Gulfstream private jet, which bears tail number RA-10208. Mikhelson, a major shareholder in the Russian gas company Novatek, uses the American-made plane for vacations to destinations including the Maldives and Turkey.
Through its subsidiary, Severo-Zapad Technics («Северо-Запад Техникс», lit. “North-West Technics”), the airline acquires various parts for the Gulfstream, including jacks made by the U.S.-based Tronair, lead batteries made by American firm EnerSys Energy Products, and door lock tools made by American firm Gulfstream Aerospace. These deliveries often pass through countries like China, with companies like Shanghai Junxun Aviation Technology facilitating the shipments.
FastAir International LLC (ООО «ФастЭйр Интернешнл») also imports spare parts for Gulfstream jets into Russia. For instance, a pneumatic engine starter valued at $486,000, made in the U.S., was imported via Oman with assistance from the Turkish company Khius Uluslararasi Ticaret Ve Lojistik Anonim Sirk.
Moscow-based Eyelkay LLC (ООО «Эйэлкей») also imported an engine ignition unit for a Gulfstream jet from UK-based Air Group Aviation through Turkey’s Sup Havacilik Reklam Organizasyon Ticaret Limited.