And to recover $334 million: a court in Tatarstan sentenced oligarch Kolomoisky to 12 years in prison in absentia.

      The Almetyevsk City Court has established the embezzlement of oil worth 10.8 billion rubles as proven within an organized criminal group — the defendants did not participate in the proceedings.

      Photo: screenshot from youtube.com

      Today in Tatarstan, an unprecedented trial regarding the theft of nearly 11 billion rubles has reached its conclusion. A quartet of well-known Ukrainian businessmen was found guilty in absentia of appropriating 859 thousand tons of "Tatneft" products as part of a criminal organization and sentenced to 48 years in a strict regime colony, with each receiving 12 years. Among the defendants is Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky*. At the same time, the convicted were jointly ordered to pay damages amounting to 334 million US dollars, with the sum to be determined in ruble equivalent on the date of payment, the press service of the Almetyevsk City Court of Tatarstan reported to "Realnoe Vremya." All four defendants have also been arrested in absentia and are currently listed in international wanted notices. Real sentences in a strict regime colony were given today in absentia to former head of the board of JSC "UkrTatNafta" Pavel Ovcharenko, Gennady Bogolyubov, and Alexander Yaroslavsky.

      Provided by the press service of the Almetyevsk City Court

      The 12-year sentences were assigned only under Article 210 of the Criminal Code. For the second episode concerning embezzlement on a particularly large scale (Article 160 of the Criminal Code), the court sentenced each to 8 years of imprisonment and immediately released them due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the Tatarstan Prosecutor's Office clarified.

      The court also partially satisfied the claim of the victim company for 10.8 billion rubles, and ordered the confiscation of part of the seized property in favor of the state.

      The interests of the defendants were represented by lawyers from Almetyevsk, the "Kamsky Criminal Law Center" in Izhevsk, and the Moscow law firm "EPAM," which also works with clients outside the Russian Federation. The position of the victim company was represented by Dmitry Medvedev, head of the legal department of PJSC "Tatneft," and his colleague Svetlana Sultanova.

      According to participants in the proceedings, during the debates, the defense attempted to have the case returned to the prosecutors and pointed out the difficulties of presenting evidence in absentia. The prosecution, on the other hand, requested the same sentences of 14 years and 11 months in a strict regime colony for all "in absentia" defendants, along with fines of 900 thousand rubles under the article on organizing a criminal community, and also noted that the 10-year statute of limitations had expired for the second episode of the case.

      Realnoe Vremya / realnoevremya.ru

      Recall that according to the investigation, from December 4, 2006, to October 19, 2007, the defendants, while outside the territory of the Russian Federation, created an organized criminal group. They then, together with individuals whose criminal case was separated into a separate proceeding, appropriated oil supplied through a intermediary company. Nearly 860 thousand tons of oil worth 439 million dollars were sent via pipeline transport through a number of intermediaries to the storage tanks of the oil extraction plant "UkrTatNafta" in the Poltava region of Ukraine.

      Claims regarding this transaction resulted in a criminal case 12 years later — in 2021, preliminary damage data of 4 billion rubles was announced. By the time the case was sent to court, law enforcement estimated the value of the stolen goods at 10.8 billion rubles. Moreover, to secure the recovery of civil claims, Tatarstan Ministry of Internal Affairs officials imposed a seizure on the assets and shares of JSC "Petrus" — one of the leaders in the PET packaging market in Russia, considering this company affiliated with the defendants in absentia. The list of seized property worth 20.7 billion rubles included non-residential premises, buildings, and land plots in St. Petersburg, cities of the Moscow region, and the Ryazan, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Bryansk, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, and Omsk regions. Representatives of "Petrus" also participated in the criminal proceedings.

      Notably, after the in absentia arrest of Bogolyubov and Kolomoisky*, the Vakhitovsky Court of Kazan detained the latter in November 2022 for crimes in his homeland. At that time, he was charged with fraud and legalization of property worth 13 million dollars with its transfer abroad through controlled banking structures. In 2024, charges were added for organizing the contract killing of the director of a legal company who refused to comply with demands to annul and recognize the decisions of the general meeting of shareholders as invalid.

      A Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      In Russia, in 2023, the in absentia accused was included in the list of terrorists and extremists — for financial support of neo-Nazi armed formations.

      In 2026, the Tatarstan Ministry of Internal Affairs considered the investigation completed, in March the prosecutor's office approved the charges and sent petitions to the court for consideration of the case without the defendants due to the impossibility of their extradition against the backdrop of the international situation.

      The court granted the petition but deemed it necessary to classify the proceedings "to preserve commercial secrets" — at the request of the victim side.

      In the case with evidence in 130 volumes, Judge Gulnara Bagautdinova of the Almetyevsk City Court held 13 sessions and two weeks ago retired to the deliberation room.

      According to "Realnoe Vremya," the defense and representatives of "Petrus" intend to appeal today's verdict.

      Reference

      * Listed by Rosfinmonitoring as individuals involved in extremist activities or terrorism.

      Further news on the event:

      Four citizens of Ukraine were sentenced in absentia to 12 years in Tatarstan

      The Almetyevsk City Court sentenced four citizens of Ukraine in absentia to 12 years in a strict regime colony. 18:47 25.06.2026 GTRK Tatarstan - Kazan

      The court in Tatarstan sentenced Kolomoisky* to 12 years in a colony in absentia

      The Almetyevsk City Court of Tatarstan sentenced Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky* and three other citizens of Ukraine — Alexander Yaroslavsky, in absentia to 12 years. 18:04 25.06.2026 Business Online - Kazan

      The court in Tatarstan sentenced Igor Kolomoisky to 12 years for oil theft

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      AI Image generated by Chat GPT and is for illustrative purposes

      The court in Tatarstan sentenced Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky to 12 years of imprisonment for oil theft. 17:54 25.06.2026 ProKazan.Ru - Kazan

      Four Ukrainians will spend 12 years in prison for stealing 800 tons of oil from a company in Almetyevsk

      The damage exceeded 10.7 billion rubles.

      In Almetyevsk, the court sentenced four citizens of Ukraine in absentia to 12 years in a strict regime colony. 17:27 25.06.2026 Almetyevsk RTV - Almetyevsk

      A verdict has been issued in Tatarstan regarding the organization of a criminal community

      The Almetyevsk City Court of the Republic of Tatarstan reviewed the criminal case against four citizens of Ukraine. 17:14 25.06.2026 Prosecutor's Office RT - Kazan

      Four Ukrainians were sentenced in absentia for stealing oil from Tatarstan for 10.7 billion

      Four Ukrainians were sentenced in absentia for stealing oil from Tatarstan for 10.7 billion. 17:05 25.06.2026 IA Tatar-inform - Kazan

      And to recover $334 million: the court in Tatarstan sentenced oligarch Kolomoisky* to 12 years in a colony in absentia

      The Almetyevsk City Court has established the embezzlement of oil worth 10.8 billion rubles as proven within an organized criminal group — the defendants did not participate in the proceedings.

      Photo: 16:57 25.06.2026 Realnoe Vremya - Kazan

      News from neighboring regions on the topic:

      The court in Moscow will consider the case of former British Defense Minister Wallace

      Former British Defense Minister Wallace is accused of inciting terrorism. Former British Defense Minister Ben Wallace. Photo: 04:26 26.06.2026 Komsomolskaya Pravda - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

      Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky* has been sentenced in absentia in Russia to 12 years

      Photo: Mikhail Markiv/RIA Novosti

      He is charged with the theft of almost 860 thousand tons of Russian oil worth 10 billion rubles. 18:18 25.06.2026 Gоворит Москва - Moscow

      The court in Tatarstan sentenced Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoisky* to 12 years

      The court in Tatarstan sentenced Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoisky* to 12 years for oil theft worth 10 billion rubles. 17:48