Longtime associates of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich founded a paid consular appointment service, investigation finds
A company that charges Russians abroad to find available appointments at Russian consulates has ties to people in Roman Abramovich’s circle, Verstka reported.
Konsul Prime operates as an official partner under an agreement with Russia’s Foreign Ministry, offering help with paperwork and priority access to appointments.
The company always has appointments available, even though people usually wait weeks to book one. Konsul Prime began operating in late 2022. Russian emigrants say in group chats and online forums that getting a consular appointment has become even harder since the service launched.
Konsul Prime’s main legal entity, Tsentr Servis LLC, was established in December 2022 by Yefim Malkin. Malkin began working with Abramovich in the 1990s at Sibneft, according to Verstka. He was later linked to Millhouse entities that managed assets belonging to Abramovich and his partner, Yevgeny Shvidler.
In September 2022, Mikhail Livergand, another Abramovich associate who had previously worked in investment and real estate and served as Malkin’s assistant, took ownership of Konsul Prime. In August of that year, Livergand founded Tsentr Servis Digital, which owns the rights to Konsul Prime’s software platform.
Meduza found that Konsul Prime’s clients in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland sign contracts with legal entities registered in the United Arab Emirates: Docs Management L.L.C. and Konsul Prime DMCC. That information comes from the company’s privacy policy.
The owner of Docs Management L.L.C. is unknown, but Comfort Care Travel L.L.C. is registered at the same address in Dubai. It is the Dubai representative office of Malkin’s Russian company, Tekhnologii Meditsinskogo Turizma.
Konsul Prime DMCC is owned by Tsentr Servis, according to Tsentr Servis’ financial statements.
Since July 2023, Darya Zhurova, 53, has held 49% stakes in both Tsentr Servis and Tsentr Servis Digital, becoming another co-founder of both companies, according to Verstka. Livergand retained controlling stakes in both companies. Zhurova is the first co-owner with no ties to Abramovich, Verstka’s journalists wrote, suggesting that she may be a nominee owner.
Tsentr Servis founded most of Konsul Prime’s legal entities abroad, Verstka reported. Another company responsible for Konsul Prime’s branches, Konsul Tsentr, operates on behalf of Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Since 2024, Livergand and Zhurova’s Tsentr Servis has owned 90% of Konsul Tsentr, with just 10% belonging to an administrative office under the ministry.
In February 2026, Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities stopped disclosing information about the founders of Konsul Prime’s Russian legal entities. But even the information still publicly available makes clear that Konsul Prime is not a state company at all, nor is it even formally dependent on the state. It has more ties to Roman Abramovich than to Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Yet the service still presents itself as the ministry’s sole partner, collects Russians’ data, and charges for exclusive access to consular services.
Tsentr Servis Digital’s business is currently valued at 1.17 billion rubles, according to its financial statements, which Meduza reviewed.
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Meduza, with contributions from Maria Zholobova