A friend of Putin’s Secret Service chief bought Russia’s biggest car dealership for a third of its pre-war value

On Friday, the CEO of the “Rolf” company — one of Russia’s largest car dealership chains — revealed that Umar Kremlev bought the business from the state in September for 30–40 billion rubles (about $357 million) — roughly a third of Rolf’s market value three years ago. CEO Roman Antonov told the media that the price was based on a market analysis that likely reflected regulatory pressure on the company and the withdrawal of Western automakers. 

Journalists at Agentstvo Media previously reported that Kremlev succeeded in acquiring Rolf from the Federal Property Management Agency thanks to lobbying by his friend Alexey Rubezhny, who heads Vladimir Putin’s Presidential Security Service.

By executive order, Putin nationalized Rolf in December 2023 after officials spent years blocking the company’s sale by its founder, Sergey Petrov, who fled the country amid a scandal that led to felony charges in 2019 for allegedly illegal commercial activities. Petrov served in the State Duma from 2007 to 2015, voting against several landmark repressive draft laws and abstaining from the vote on the annexation of Crimea.