Journalists of the Association of Investigative Reporters RISEMoldova, in cooperation with colleagues from other countries, demonstrated how the Transnistrian oligarchs Victor Gusan and Ilia Kazmaly control their own business empire that was extended far beyond the borders of the separatist Transnistrian republic, IPN reports.

“Both of the magnates prefer to develop their businesses as far from the watchful eye of the Kremlin as possible, going thus against the Transnistrian party “Obnovlenie” (“Renewal”), which is considered to be controlled by the two. During the last 20 years, dozens of companies founded on the right bank of the Nistru, in Ukraine, in EU member states and in a number of offshore areas became the common property of the two businessmen. Gusan and Kazmaly benefitted from passports issued by three countries – Moldova, Ukraine and Russia – for registering these firms,” says the journalistic investigation entitled “Republic Sheriff”.

Explaining the title, the authors say that the company Sheriff that the oligarchs set up in Transnistria in 1993, one year after the Nistru war, became one of the most important in the business empire created by the two entrepreneurs.

“In parallel, the magnates extended the geography of their businesses. At the start of the 1990s, Gusan and Kazmaly started to open firms in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Cyrus and on the British Virgin Islands,” reads the article.

“According to the register of legal entities of Ukraine, at the beginning of 2016 Gusan, as a citizen of Ukraine, became the owner of luxury buildings in Ukraine, stakeholder of the firm “Intertelekom”, which is one of the largest four mobile phone carriers in Ukraine, and possessor of the largest area covered by 3G.

“Owing to the Russian nationality, Gusan and Кazmaly became some of the owners or managers of six offshore companies on the British Virgin Islands and of Cypriot companies that were involved in a scandal with financial operations to export hundreds of millions of dollars from the breakaway republic.

“Profiting from the third nationality, Moldovan one, Gusan and Kazmaly started a series of firms in Moldova, the tobacco importing one BusinessMarket SRL being the largest one. In 2012, this had a turnover of 480 million lei,” says the investigation “Republic of Sheriff”.