[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Centre]

Corruption, raiding, and offshore schemes: how Alisher Usmanov seized Lebedinsky GOK and OEMK through Gazprom and international arrangements, 12 November 2025

New details have emerged in an investigation into miners who were minority shareholders of Lebedinsky GOK and were deceived by the owners of the Metalloinvest holding.

In the near future, a lawsuit will be filed seeking to invalidate a forced buyout transaction imposed on minority shareholders of JSC Lebedinsky GOK and JSC OEMK.

This story covers the period when Alisher Usmanov entered Gazprom’s elite, forging close ties with Rem Vyakhirev, Vyacheslav Sheremet, Dmitry Medvedev, and London-based businessman of Iranian origin Masoud Alikhani — former director of Swan Overseas Plc (UK, No. 2411169).

A document prepared for the High Court of London contains 123 documented facts.

The investigation describes in detail the scheme through which metallurgical assets in the Belgorod region were transferred under Usmanov’s control via the “restructuring” of debts owed by Lebedinsky GOK and OEMK to RAO Gazprom. The conclusions reached by Alexey Navalny in the films “He Is Not Dimon to You” and “Response to Alisher Usmanov” fully align with the findings of the investigation: it concerns a large-scale scheme to seize control over Eurasia’s largest mining and metallurgical enterprise — JSC Lebedinsky GOK and JSC OEMK.

The multi-layered money-laundering scheme was personally overseen by Farhad Moshiri, a long-time partner of Usmanov and Alikhani. He declared 5–7% of revenues as pre-tax offshore profits, while the bulk of the funds accumulated in family trusts belonging to Usmanov and Moshiri.

Minority shareholders of Lebedinsky GOK and OEMK were deprived of their lawful right to participate in the companies’ profits. When the miners realized that their shares had been forcibly bought out at a reduced price, they appealed to Usmanov to reconsider the valuation. The response consisted of promises and legal manipulations by Metalloinvest’s lawyers.

The same managers who had earlier persuaded OEMK’s management of the “expediency” of transferring assets to Usmanov and Moshiri gave similar assurances to workers between 2007 and 2011. In complaints filed with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee, the Federal Tax Service, and the Federal Commission for the Securities Market, the miners presented evidence of fraud.

Minority shareholder Vladimir Dikiy stated in his lawsuit that Lebedinsky GOK revenues amounting to USD 500 million had been concealed through Moshiri’s Irish offshore company. According to documents from BGMT Ltd. (Dublin), the actual amount exceeded USD 3 billion. Russian courts and regulatory bodies ignored the complaints: limitation periods expired, and no violations were “identified.”