The Prosecutor General’s Office stopped pursuing the nationalization of SIBECO, a company linked to billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, after his large donation to the educational center Sirius. The Economist reported this.
According to the publication, in 2023 Melnichenko transferred 32 billion rubles to Sirius, a project patronized by Vladimir Putin. After that, prosecutors withdrew their lawsuit seeking to transfer his assets to the state. The businessman told the magazine that the donation matched the amount he had originally spent to acquire the company.
SIBECO is described as the largest energy enterprise in Siberia producing and selling heat and electricity. A settlement between the Prosecutor General’s Office and Kuzbassenergo, a joint-stock company controlled by Melnichenko, became known on October 6, 2023.
At first, prosecutors claimed that Melnichenko had entered a fraudulent conspiracy with the company’s former owner, Mikhail Abyzov, who was later sentenced to 12 years in prison. Several weeks later, however, the agency dropped the suit, saying this was because of a major contribution to social charity in the field of children’s education and enlightenment. At the time, the recipient organization was not disclosed.
The Sirius educational center and its affiliated foundation Talent and Success were created in 2014 at Putin’s initiative. The center says its mission is to support gifted children who have achieved success in science, sports, and the arts. Its founders include presidential aide Andrey Fursenko and cellist Sergey Roldugin, whom investigators have described as Putin’s “wallet.”
As the outlet Proekt previously reported, Sirius first received donations from state companies and later from wealthy businessmen who needed Kremlin assistance with business problems. According to Forbes, Melnichenko ranks 8th among Russian billionaires, with a fortune estimated at $20.4 billion. After sanctions were imposed on him in 2022, he moved from Switzerland to Dubai and began visiting Russia more often. In May 2025, he met Putin and said he intended to take a more active role in the country’s public life.