Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko gave 32 billion rubles to Putin’s ‘Sirius educational center’ as Russian prosecutors tried to seize his company, The Economist reports

One of the richest people in Russia, Andrey Melnichenko, donated 32 billion rubles in 2023 to the Sirius educational center, which was founded on Vladimir Putin’s initiative, The Economist reported, citing sources.

According to The Economist, the donation came after Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office moved to confiscate Sibeko, a company linked to Melnichenko. Two months later, prosecutors dropped their claims.

As The Economist noted, 32 billion rubles is roughly what Melnichenko and his entities paid for Sibeko years earlier when they acquired it.

In September 2025, BBC Russia reported that Melnichenko’s entity Kuzbassenergo had paid 32 billion rubles as part of a settlement agreement with the Prosecutor General’s Office. Where the money went was not known at the time. Kuzbassenergo said only that it had directed the funds specified under the agreement toward “charity in the education and instruction of children.”

Melnichenko’s fortune is estimated at $20.4 billion; he ranks eighth on the Forbes Russia list of the country’s wealthiest individuals.

Other Russian businessmen have also made large donations to Sirius. After Uralkali director Vladislav Baumgertner was arrested in Minsk, Suleiman Kerimov, who owned the company, transferred about $100 million to the foundation.

The investigative outlet Proekt reported back in 2022 that major entrepreneurs were required to contribute at least $1 million annually to Sirius’s budget.