Russia seizes billions in assets as Kremlin loyalists benefit from wartime redistribution
The unexpected release of mafia-linked businessman Ilya Traber from a Russian prison has exposed the mechanisms of a sweeping property redistribution underway since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The 75-year-old, known as "the Antique Dealer" in criminal circles, walked free on August 27 on health grounds, with charges of organized murder and arms trafficking dropped four days later.
Traber's case illustrates a broader pattern of asset seizures and strategic releases that has reshaped Russia's business landscape during wartime. Russian prosecutors filed claims to seize assets worth approximately $60 billion between early 2022 and late 2025, according to Cedar, an outlet run by exiled Russian economists. In May 2026 alone, a Russian court transferred $7.6 billion worth of assets from Rusagro founder Vadim Moshkovich to state ownership, marking the largest single seizure in the current wave of nationalization.
The Traber case and connections to organized crime
The timing of Traber's release has generated significant discussion in Saint Petersburg, where he built his empire in the turbulent 1990s. He was arrested on June 17 following a five-year investigation that implicated him in ordering the murder of Alexander Petrov, a business associate shot dead by a sniper on October 24, 2020, as he exited the sauna at his estate near the Finnish border. Petrov, known as the "Landlord of Vyborg" and father of former Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov, controlled more than 20 businesses in the Vyborg district, including the Vyborg Shipbuilding Plant and Vyborg Fuel Company.
Traber's connections to the Tambovskaya-Malyshevskaya gang, one of Russia's most powerful criminal organizations, enabled his rise to control the region's ports during the chaotic privatization era. The gang, organized in Leningrad in 1988 by men from Tambov Oblast including Vladimir Kumarin, has around 600 members. After Traber and his associates eliminated several uncooperative officials, including privatization official Mikhail Manevich in August 1997, they seized control of Saint Petersburg's port and oil terminal.
Putin's role in the 1990s criminal networks
The city's political leadership proved accommodating. Mayor Anatoly Sobchak delegated relations with the criminal underworld to his deputy mayor for external trade, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer experienced in clandestine operations. In 1994, Putin as first deputy mayor awarded Petersburg Fuel Company a monopoly on fuel supply to the city, a company allegedly linked to the Tambovskaya group where Vladimir Kumarin served as vice-president. Two years later, in May 1996, Putin granted Traber a monopoly on supplying fuel to Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport.
The fate of Traber's former associates underscores the significance of his release. Vladimir Kumarin, the leader of the Tambov gang and a close associate of Traber, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2019 in Saint Petersburg for contract killings and organized crime. Following his release from detention, Fontanka reported that Traber has been holding a series of meetings with government officials and business figures.
Wartime loyalty rewarded
Traber's recent activities may explain his favorable treatment. After the 2022 invasion, he founded the Leningradsky Frontier Foundation in Saint Petersburg, an organization that supports the Russian army. This alignment with the war effort appears to have positioned him advantageously within a system that rewards loyalty to the Kremlin while punishing perceived disloyalty through asset seizures.
The redistribution of wealth has accelerated as more than 1,000 foreign companies left Russia since the full-scale invasion, selling, abandoning or transferring their businesses. The state has systematically seized assets from entrepreneurs deemed unreliable and resold them to Putin loyalists, creating opportunities for those who demonstrate their allegiance to the regime. The pattern suggests that in wartime Russia, political loyalty has become more valuable than legal innocence, and strategic alignment with state interests can override even serious criminal charges.
