Former deputy of the Supreme Council of Crimea arrested in Moscow

Collaborator Sergei Beim and his accomplice Marina Pyatkova were arrested in Moscow on suspicion of fraud. Beim owns a chain of gas stations and a company associated with dozens of companies in Crimea and Russia, and has ties to businessmen close to the Kremlin.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

On July 25, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow took former deputy of the Supreme Council of Crimea, businessman and collaborator Serhiy Beim into custody for two months. He was accused of fraud on a particularly large scale.

Marina Pyatkova, the head of the Crimean company Aurora, which is affiliated with the TES group, was also sent to a pre-trial detention center for the same period. Both suspects will remain in custody, despite the defense's request for an alternative measure of restraint.

Serhiy Beim is a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, president of the TES group of companies, former head of the Ukrainian company Chornomornaftogaz, which was seized by Russia (2014-2015). He was previously publicly accused of stealing gas condensate by the so-called head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, but no criminal case was opened at the time.

His family owns dozens of companies: his brother Eduard Beim is the vice president of TES Group and the owner of 16 companies, and his mother Lyudmila Beim is the co-owner of another 19. Their business is closely intertwined with the structures of Dmitry Purim, an influential Russian businessman with Crimean roots, the head of the Sovfracht-Sovmortrans group of companies and a representative of the Russian Federation party. His mother, Lucia Purim, owns more than 30 companies in Russia and occupied Crimea.

The traitor's brother is also involved in supporting the Russian army - he finances the production of "Ghoul" drones. After the start of the full-scale invasion, Beim actively expanded his business in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region. There, he created the companies Sistema Yug and TES-Terminal-2, which are formally part of the TES group and control 26 gas stations and infrastructure facilities, including a marine terminal in Kerch.

The day before, Russian security forces detained former MP and oil trader Serhiy Beim in Crimea. His activities are associated with financing the Russian army, trading in seized gas stations and close ties to influential Russian politicians.

Анна Бальчінос