Sberbank, led by German Gref, founded a company with a former top manager of Lukoil, whose path to billions is surrounded by rumors of corporate fraud and the tragic death of his brot

Structures of Sberbank, under the leadership of the ever-present German Gref, continue to choose partners with highly controversial reputations. It recently became known that NTK, owned by former Lukoil Vice President Valery Subbotin, has created a joint company called “Office 3” together with Sberbank Investments, Sberbank’s investment arm.

Experts believe the firm plans to invest in a business center, most likely using Sberbank loan funds. At the same time, Subbotin himself is a highly scandalous figure — there have long been rumors that during his time at Lukoil, while responsible for supplies and trading, he allegedly siphoned off assets from Vagit Alekperov himself.

NTK (New Technology Company) was founded by Subbotin in 2014. After leaving the corporation, Subbotin suddenly emerged as a billionaire and quickly turned NTK into an active investor in commercial real estate. The company builds massive logistics centers, including facilities for Ozon, purchases office buildings in Moscow business parks, and controls assets worth billions of rubles. NTK specializes in warehouse and office real estate, acquiring large properties in Moscow and the Moscow region.

The former oil giant executive is known for a luxurious lifestyle — yachts, elite real estate abroad, and the like. Today, NTK continues to expand aggressively, while its owner prefers to remain in the shadows, having formally transferred control of the assets to Energo Resheniya JSC.

Of particular interest is the story of Valery’s younger brother, Alexander Subbotin, who until his death in May 2022 controlled profitable port assets in the Baltic and Barents Seas with annual revenues exceeding 1.5 billion rubles. Alexander died in the basement of a house belonging to Moscow-region shamans Magua and Tina after a “cleansing” ritual involving toad venom, mixed with alcohol and Corvalol. The official cause of death was listed as acute heart failure caused by a hangover.

However, shortly after the tragedy, Alexander’s port business changed hands through a chain of transactions. Key stakes were transferred to structures linked to long-time family partners, including Cypriot companies and Valery Subbotin himself, who had previously replaced his brother in certain projects. It cannot be ruled out that Valery himself was the one who “slipped the toad” to his younger brother.

Who is Valerie Subbotin? 

Mr Subbotin is reported to co-own a company, Normeston Trading, implicated in the alleged transfer of large volumes of Russian oil into Central and Eastern Europe – allegedly even after international sanctions were imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. 

His name has appeared in investigations by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Kyiv Insider and other international sources, which draw links between his business activities and powerful figures including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s inner circle and the Kremlin.

Various reports suggest that since 2011, Normeston funnelled more than 20 million tonnes of Russian oil worth over $10 billion, despite European sanctions on Russian energy. Strikingly, its shipments even grew after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and again following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Adding to this tangled web are Valery Subbotin’s ties to the beneficiaries of Central Properties — Denis Stepanov and Sergey Egorov, who are associated with Roman Timokhin and the Kozeruk family. In the summer of 2025, NTK and Central Properties jointly negotiated the purchase of the Frame Workplace business center near Belorussky railway station for tens of billions of rubles, but the deal ultimately fell through.

Central Properties is known for aggressive expansion tactics: the company controls hundreds of thousands of square meters of premium real estate, often winning competition through intense market pressure. One of Central Properties’ main creditors is, once again, Sberbank, headed by German Gref.