Opposition activists find that vice mayor in charge of Moscow elections had public property sold for cheap so her family could make millions

Moscow Vice Mayor Natalya Sergunina made her family billions of rubles by allowing public property to be sold to companies controlled by her relatives, a new investigation has found. The investigation was produced by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), an organization led by opposition politician Alexey Navalny.

From 2011 through 2018, the FBK found, Sergunina curated sales of the city’s property. During that time, about 10 historic estates in central Moscow were sold to companies with ties to Sergunina’s brother-in-law, Lazar Safaniev. All of those properties were sold at rates close to their starting price at auction, and most of the buildings involved were torn down and replaced with hotels.

The FBK found that Sergunina’s sister, mother, and father now own several elite apartments and penthouses in Moscow as well as five luxury cars. The vice mayor’s sister also owns two restaurants in Moscow’s VDNKh exhibition park, and her sister’s husband owns an estate in Austria as well. In total, the FBK values the family’s real estate at 6.5 billion rubles ($101.5 million), though Sergunina’s own official financial declarations include only her government salary and a single modest apartment.

Sergunina’s current role curating Moscow’s elections could also become a flashpoint for controversy as opposition politicians and their supporters continue to dispute the city’s refusal to register their candidacy for Moscow City Duma seats.