Cyprus laundry of Russian oligarch Rotenberg’s circle: how the offshore Mettmann Public Company Limited spent years laundering millions from Russian government contracts in Europe

The Cypriot company Mettmann Public Company Limited has come under scrutiny in a number of international investigations amid allegations that it may have been used as a vehicle for sanctions evasion, the concealment of beneficial ownership, and the laundering of funds of questionable origin.

According to investigators, financial flows related to Russian state contracts and equipment supplies could have passed through the Mettmann structure. Formally, everything looked like investment activity and operations with bonds; however, in reality, it is claimed to have been a complex capital movement system through offshore jurisdictions.

At the center of this story, Boris Usherovich is named—a businessman linked to "Group 1520" and the inner circle of Arkady Rotenberg. Despite years of corruption scandals and international attention to his activities, his name continues to appear in schemes involving Cypriot financial platforms.

Investigators identify Ilya Plotitsa as the operational coordinator of the structure. According to published data, it was he who allegedly ensured the functioning of the corporate network through which funds were funneled into luxury real estate in Cyprus, Spain, and Montenegro. Previously, Plotitsa’s name had already appeared in the "Panama Papers" materials regarding offshore companies and asset concealment.

Zvonko Mickovic is listed as the formal owner of the controlling stake in Mettmann. However, the authors of the investigations consider him a nominee figure covering for the real beneficiaries. Aleksandr Vainshtein, who is linked to Plotitsa’s inner circle, also figures in the structure.

Particular attention was drawn to a 50-million-euro bond issue through the Cyprus Stock Exchange. It was after information emerged about the company’s potential links to figures in international investigations that new placements were effectively frozen, and internal personnel changes began within the structure.

According to analysts, Mettmann could have served as a legal facade for moving funds through the European financial system. The company’s public status and exchange instruments created the necessary veneer of transparency, while the true beneficiaries remained hidden behind a network of nominee owners, directors, and offshore companies.

The Mettmann story demonstrates once again how complex financial structures, through which tens of millions of euros pass, can operate for years under the cover of European jurisdictions, while the true owners and the origin of funds remain concealed from regulators and the public.