The failure of the Wagner revolt also had consequences for the companies of their boss, Prigozhin. The first companies have already been closed, the company headquarters have been searched – and corruption proceedings could follow.
Last Friday at 1:12 p.m. the latest breaking news appeared on RIA FAN. It was about difficulties with the delivery of F-35 fighter jets in the United States. RIA FAN, which stands for Russian Federal News Agency – and informed strictly pro-Putin, pro-Prigozhin and against opposition figures such as the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny or critical journalists.
Her boss, Yevgeny Subarev, announced shortly after the last agency report: “We are closing and leaving the country’s information space – the entire Patriot media group is going with us.”
ramified corporate network
The end did not come voluntarily. The Russian media supervisory authority Roskomnadzor had access to all of the subsidiaries controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin media holding patriot blocked without further explanation.
It is currently unclear whether the media holding company, which was founded in 2019, will be completely dissolved or parts of it will be taken over by another oligarch. What is clear, however, is that after Prigozhin’s armed uprising, with the help of his mercenary group Wagner, other companies in his huge network of companies covering a number of industries are also being targeted by the Kremlin.
Troll factory closed
The “Agency for Internet Research” (IRA) should no longer exist. Prigozhin’s troll factory, notorious for disinformation and manipulation in the interests of the Kremlin, is said to have influenced the US presidential election campaign in 2016 in favor of the eventual winner Donald Trump.
It was only in February that Prigozhin publicly admitted that he had founded the troll factory. Their activity was at least suspended after the Wagner group uprising.
billion payments from the State
It was officially denied for a long time that the Russian state had anything to do with politically sensitive operations by the private military company Wagner in the Middle East or in Africa. On the other hand, the use of Wagner mercenaries in the war against Ukraine was no secret, and in particular the extremely brutal occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin only acknowledged the close financial ties after the failed uprising: “The ‘living’ of the entire Wagner group was taken over entirely by the state. We financed the group completely from the Ministry of Defence, from the state budget.”
Although private military companies are not allowed in Russia, according to Putin, more than 930 million euros flowed to the Wagner group from May 2022 to May 2023, mainly for salaries. Transfers of this magnitude should now be history.
threat from Putin
During the armed revolt and the march towards Moscow, Prigozhin spoke threateningly of around 25,000 active Wagner fighters. Do they actually go to Belarus in larger numbers? Is Prigozhin there too? Putin has assured him of impunity, but Putin no longer mentions the name of his longtime confidante – the current traitor.
Not even when he spoke last week about Concord, another of Prigozhin’s extremely profitable companies: “The owner of the Concord company made another 80 billion rubles by supplying food to the army and offering other services.”
And Putin continued: “I hope that nobody stole anything. Or let’s put it this way: didn’t steal much. But of course we will definitely clarify that.” It sounded like a threat, as if the equivalent of 830 million euros could lead to investigations against 62-year-old Prigozhin.
State caterer Concord
Prigozhin began his entrepreneurial career in St. Petersburg in the 1990s as a restaurant owner, where he met the future President Putin, who promoted him, then organized state banquets and opened fine restaurants. Eventually he built up a huge catering company, Concord, which supplied food to schools, but primarily to the Russian army.
Dmitri Kiselyov, moderator and head of the state television holding company, speculated that the Defense Ministry’s planned expiration of the lucrative contracts could have been a reason for Prigozhin to dare to revolt against the ministry’s top leadership.
But when calculating the Concord contracts, Kiselev came up with a completely different sum than Putin on state television: “Prigozhin’s Holding Concord provided services for 845 billion rubles.” That would be the equivalent of even nine billion euros. For what exactly? This is what Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about on Monday. He didn’t have an answer.